Inkjet Ink Characterisation

Viscosity, dispersions, jetting & surfaces

Wednesday 29 - Thursday 30 January 2020

Hotel Ilunion Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

COURSE FOCUS

Development of high quality inks and fluids for inkjet applications requires state-of-the-art characterisation equipment and techniques. From fundamental ink properties such as viscosity and surface tension, which have a crucial impact on jetting performance, through analysis of particulates dispersed within the ink, understanding these properties is key to getting the best out of an ink development project. In addition, it is vital to understand how the developed ink actually behaves, both on ejection from the printhead and when landing onto the substrate of choice.

The Inkjet Ink Characterisation course gives an excellent introduction to these essential areas of study, presented by industry experts from leading suppliers and institutions in the field. The course will give you the basic foundations as well as a more detailed understanding of the vital equipment and techniques.

COURSE OUTLINE

Wednesday 29 january 2020

08:00 - 09:00 Registration

09:00 Course begins

Monitoring and controlling pigment particle size 
Dr Diogo Fernandes, Malvern Panalytical

  • Understanding the links between particle size and ink performance

  • Overview of light scattering techniques for measuring particle size

  • Pros and cons of different measurement techniques and approaches

  • Practical examples 

Evaluating and improving dispersion stability Dr Diogo Fernandes, Malvern Panalytical

  • Understanding stability mechanisms for ink dispersions

  • Factors controlling stability – particle size, steric effects, zeta potential and viscosity

  • How to make stable dispersions – selecting the right approach for your ink

  • Practical examples

Assessing the impact of polymer structure on ink performance 
Dr Stefan Cairns, Malvern Panalytical

  • Understanding the role of polymers for inkjet applications

  • Correlating polymer properties with polymer solution behaviour including viscosity

  • Measuring molecular weight, molecular structure and intrinsic viscosity

  • Practical examples

Optimising ink rheology for printing applications
Dr Carlos Gracia Fernández, TA Instruments

  • Understanding the importance of fluid rheology for inkjet printing

  • Basic rheology theory - viscosity and viscoelasticity

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 Session begins

Optimising ink rheology for printing applications - Continued
Carlos Gracia Fernández, TA Instruments

  • Rheological test methods for inkjet inks and processes

  • Practical examples

Basic property measurements - surface tension
Dr Thomas Willers, KRÜSS

  • Surface tension - introduction

  • Relevance to droplet formation and spreading in inkjet printing

  • Interplay of surface tension and viscosity in drop formation

  • Impacts on wetting

  • How to optimise ink-substrate adhesion and spreading

  • Interfacial rheology and its relevance to drying

  • Theories and methods of measurement - compared and contrasted

  • Application examples from inkjet industry

17:00 Session ends

17:30 - 18:30 Reception

Join us for beers, wines and good company!

Thursday 30 January 2020

09:00 Session begins

Jetting and print quality analysis
Paul Best, ImageXpert

  • Introduction to drop analysis

  • How is in-flight analysis used?

    • Drop formation

    • Reliability

    • Misting

    • Nozzle-to-nozzle consistency

    • Drop measurement

  • Simple application examples

  • Overview of techniques

  • Fundamental measurements

  • Practical demonstration

  • Introduction to print quality analysis

  • How is print quality analysis used?

    • Dot properties

    • Line properties

    • Solid area quality

    • Colour registration

    • Ink interaction

  • Overview of techniques

  • Practical examples

12:30 Course ends

 

 

 

COURSE LEADERS

Dr Diogo Fernandes, Product Technical Specialist
Malvern Panalytical

Dr Diogo Fernandes has been awarded a Forensic Chemistry BSc degree from ISCSEM, Portugal, in 2013, and a doctoral degree in Materials Science from the University of Central Lancashire in 2017, where he explored different methods to synthesize and characterize novel types carbogenic nanoparticles. He has acquired knowledge and experience in dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering not only during his PhD degree but also since he joined Malvern Panalytical in 2017. As a Product Technical Specialist for Nanomaterials Characterization, his role is to provide global technical support to customers and collaborators on the Zetasizer range of products, as well as supporting the sales and marketing teams.

Dr Stefan Cairns, Product Technical Specialist – Separations
Malvern Panalytical, UK

Dr Stefan Cairns is a Product Technical Specialist for GPC/SEC at Malvern Panalytical. He completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in ring opening polymerisation, where he became an expert in monomer, polymer and catalyst synthesis, and characterisation. He has a first-class honours degree in Chemistry from University College Dublin and previous industrial experience working at Akzo Nobel.

Dr Carlos Gracia Fernández, Responsible for Applications: Rheology and Thermal Analysis
TA Instruments, Spain

Carlos graduated in Physics from Santiago de Compostela University, Spain in 2000. He then completed Master’s degrees in Applied and Condensed Matter Physics, and a PhD in Applied Physics. From 2005 to 2007 he was a Post Doc in rheology and thermal analysis in the food department of University of Santiago de Compostela. Since 2007 he has been a senior scientific support specialist in rheology, thermal analysis and thermophysical properties at TA Instruments.

Dr Thomas Willers, Head of Applications & Science
KRÜSS, Germany

Dr Thomas Willers studied physics in Cologne and Barcelona. He received his PhD degree in experimental physics at the University of Cologne. In 2012 he joined KRÜSS GmbH at its headquarters in Hamburg where he is now head of the department for Applications & Science. He is responsible for the KRÜSS Application Labs as well as teaching activities and now has more than five years’ experience in teaching surface science.

Paul Best, Director of Engineering
ImageXpert, USA

Paul is Director of Engineering at ImageXpert Inc. and lives in Nashua, NH USA. Prior to joining ImageXpert Paul worked as an Optical Engineer and Team Lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab. Paul received his Bachelor’s degree in in Mathematics and Computer Science from Wheaton College, and his Master’s degree in Physics from California State University, Los Angeles.

To find out more on this topic check out the following blog articles and presentation:

Dr Steve Ward-Smith of Malvern Panalytical - Designer droplets – why the size and stability of particles in inkjet inks matter

Yair Kipman of ImageXpert - Inkjet Optimization

Mats Larsson of Malvern Panalytical - Rheology of inkjet inks

Martina Schulte-Borchers of KRÜSS - Optimising, Wetting & Jetting

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