Structure- and fluid-dynamics in piezo inkjet printheads

Inkjet printing is an important technology in color document production [133].\ud The rapid development of inkjet technology started off around the late fifties.\ud Since then, many inkjet devices have seen the light of day. In this overview, the attention is mainly restricted to the development towards the most important inkjet concepts of today, namely continuous, piezoelectric, and thermal inkjet

Lattice Boltzmann method to study the contraction of a viscous ligament

We employ a recently formulated axisymmetric version of the multiphase Shan-Chen (SC) lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) [Srivastava et al, in preparation (2013)] to simulate the contraction of a liquid ligament. We compare the axisymmetric LBM simulation against the slender jet (SJ) approximation model [T. Driessen and R. Jeurissen, IJCFD {\bf 25}, 333 (2011)]. We compare the retraction dynamics of the tail-end of the liquid ligament from the LBM simulation, the SJ model, Flow3D simulations and a simple model based on the force balance (FB). We find good agreement between the theoretical prediction (FB), the SJ model, and the LBM simulations

Stability of viscous long liquid filaments

We study the collapse of an axisymmetric liquid filament both analytically and by means of a numerical model. The liquid filament, also known as ligament, may either collapse stably into a single droplet or break up into multiple droplets. The dynamics of the filament are governed by the viscosity and the aspect ratio, and the initial perturbations of its surface. We find that the instability of long viscous filaments can be completely explained by the Rayleigh-Plateau instability, whereas a low viscous filament can also break up due to end pinching. We analytically derive the transition between stable collapse and breakup in the Ohnesorge number versus aspect ratio phase space. Our result is confirmed by numerical simulations based on the slender jet approximation and explains recent experimental findings by Castrejon-Pita et al., PRL 108, 074506 (2012).Comment: 7 page

Evaporation-triggered segregation of sessile binary droplets

Droplet evaporation of multicomponent droplets is essential for various physiochemical applications, e.g. in inkjet printing, spray cooling and microfabrication. In this work, we observe and study phase segregation of an evaporating sessile binary droplet, consisting of a mixture of water and a surfactant-like liquid (1,2-hexanediol). The phase segregation (i.e., demixing) leads to a reduced water evaporation rate of the droplet and eventually the evaporation process ceases due to shielding of the water by the non-volatile 1,2-hexanediol. Visualizations of the flow field by particle image velocimetry and numerical simulations reveal that the timescale of water evaporation at the droplet rim is faster than that of the Marangoni flow, which originates from the surface tension difference between water and 1,2-hexanediol, eventually leading to segregation

Evaporation-Induced Crystallization of Surfactants in Sessile Multicomponent Droplets

Surfactants have been widely studied and used in controlling droplet evaporation. In this work, we observe and study the crystallization of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) within an evaporating glycerol-water mixture droplet. The crystallization is induced by the preferential evaporation of water, which decreases the solubility of SDS in the mixture. As a consequence, the crystals shield the droplet surface and cease the evaporation. The universality of the evaporation characteristics for a range of droplet sizes is revealed by applying a diffusion model, extended by Raoult's law. To describe the nucleation and growth of the crystals, we employ the 2-dimensional crystallization model of Weinberg [J. Non-Cryst. Solids 1991, 134, 116]. The results of this model compare favorably to our experimental results. Our findings may inspire the community to reconsider the role of high concentration of surfactants in a multicomponent evaporation system

Rayleigh-Taylor instability by segregation in an evaporating multi-component microdroplet

The evaporation of multi-component droplets is relevant to various applications but challenging to study due to the complex physicochemical dynamics. Recently, Li (2018) reported evaporation-triggered segregation in 1,2-hexanediol-water binary droplets. In this present work, we added 0.5 wt% silicone oil into the 1,2-hexanediol-water binary solution. This minute silicone oil concentration dramatically modifies the evaporation process as it triggers an early extraction of the 1,2-hexanediol from the mixture. Surprisingly, we observe that the segregation of 1,2-hexanediol forms plumes, rising up from the rim of the sessile droplet towards the apex during the droplet evaporation. By orientating the droplet upside down, i.e., by studying a pendant droplet, the absence of the plumes indicates that the flow structure is induced by buoyancy, which drives a Rayleigh-Taylor instability (i.e., driven by density differences & gravitational acceleration). From micro-PIV measurement, we further prove that the segregation of the non-volatile component (1,2-hexanediol) hinders the evaporation near the contact line, which leads to a suppression of the Marangoni flow in this region. Hence, on long time scales, gravitational effects play the dominant role in the flow structure, rather than Marangoni flows. We compare the measurement of the evaporation rate with the diffusion model of Popov (2005), coupled with Raoult's law and the activity coefficient. This comparison indeed confirms that the silicone-oil-triggered segregation of the non-volatile 1,2-hexanediol significantly delays the evaporation. With an extended diffusion model, in which the influence of the segregation has been implemented, the evaporation can be well described

Ring-shaped colloidal patterns on saline water films

Hypothesis: Electrostatically stabilised colloidal particles destabilise when brought into contact with cations causing the particles to aggregate in clusters. When a drop with stabilised colloidal partices is deposited on a liquid film containing cations the delicate balance between the fluid-mechanical and physicochemical properties of the system governs the spreading dynamics and formation of colloidal particle clusters. Experiments: High-speed imaging and digital holographic microscopy were used to characterise the spreading process. Findings: We reveal that a spreading colloidal drop evolves into a ring-shaped pattern after it is deposited on a thin saline water film. Clustered colloidal particles aggregate into larger trapezoidally-shaped ‘supraclusters’. Using a simple model we show that the trapezoidal shape of the supraclusters is determined by the transition from inertial spreading dynamics to Marangoni flow. These results may be of interest to applications such as wet-on-wet inkjet printing, where particle destabilisation and hydrodynamic flow coexist.</p

Numerical simulations of the full ink-jet printing processes: From jetting to evaporation

Ink-jet printing requires to perfectly control both the jetting of droplets and the subsequent droplet evaporation and absorption dynamics. Considerable complexity arises due to the fact that ink is constituted of a mixture of different liquids, surfactants and pigments. Using a sharp-interface ALE finite element method, we numerically investigate the main aspects of ink-jet printing, both on the jetting side and on the drying side. We show how a short pause in jetting can result in clogged nozzles due to solvent evaporation and discuss approaches how to prevent this undesired phenomenon. Once the droplets have been jetted on paper and is evaporating, the print quality can be deteriorated by the well-known coffee-stain effect, i.e. the preferential deposition of particles near the rim of the droplet. This can be prevented in several ways, e.g. employing controlled Marangoni flow via surfactants or co-solvents or printing on a primer layer jetted in beforehand, thus creating a homogeneous deposition pattern for a perfect final printout