Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer
This paper investigates the drop-on-demand inkjet printing of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) onto a variety of substrates. Achieving both a well-defined droplet boundary and uniformity of the LC director in printed droplets can be challenging when traditional alignment surfaces are employed. Despite...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Elsevier
2018
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| _version_ | 1797093170251563008 |
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| author | Parry, E Kim, D Castrejon Pita, A Elston, S Morris, S |
| author_facet | Parry, E Kim, D Castrejon Pita, A Elston, S Morris, S |
| author_sort | Parry, E |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This paper investigates the drop-on-demand inkjet printing of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) onto a variety of substrates. Achieving both a well-defined droplet boundary and uniformity of the LC director in printed droplets can be challenging when traditional alignment surfaces are employed. Despite the increasing popularity of inkjet printing LCs, the mechanisms that are involved during the deposition process such as drop impact, wetting and spreading have received very little attention, in the way of experiments, as viable routes for promoting alignment of the resultant LC droplets. In this work, radial alignment of the director and uniformity of the droplet boundary are achieved in combination via the use of a partially-wet polymer substrate, which makes use of the forces and flow generated during droplet impact and subsequent wetting process. Our findings could have important consequences for future LC inkjet applications, including the development of smart inks, printable sensors and lasers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:56:28Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:c3078d18-adbe-4857-a70e-a568ec8b3551 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:56:28Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:c3078d18-adbe-4857-a70e-a568ec8b35512022-03-27T06:13:32ZFormation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layerJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c3078d18-adbe-4857-a70e-a568ec8b3551Symplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2018Parry, EKim, DCastrejon Pita, AElston, SMorris, SThis paper investigates the drop-on-demand inkjet printing of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) onto a variety of substrates. Achieving both a well-defined droplet boundary and uniformity of the LC director in printed droplets can be challenging when traditional alignment surfaces are employed. Despite the increasing popularity of inkjet printing LCs, the mechanisms that are involved during the deposition process such as drop impact, wetting and spreading have received very little attention, in the way of experiments, as viable routes for promoting alignment of the resultant LC droplets. In this work, radial alignment of the director and uniformity of the droplet boundary are achieved in combination via the use of a partially-wet polymer substrate, which makes use of the forces and flow generated during droplet impact and subsequent wetting process. Our findings could have important consequences for future LC inkjet applications, including the development of smart inks, printable sensors and lasers. |
| spellingShingle | Parry, E Kim, D Castrejon Pita, A Elston, S Morris, S Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer |
| title | Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via
drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer |
| title_full | Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via
drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer |
| title_fullStr | Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via
drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via
drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer |
| title_short | Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via
drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer |
| title_sort | formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via drop on demand inkjet printing into a partially wet polymer layer |
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