Control of the Surface Morphology of Ceramic/Polymer Composite Inks for Inkjet Printing

The use of organic/inorganic composite inks in the Drop on Demand inkjet printing technology is a promising as well as demanding approach for the fabrication of composite thick films. Therefore, a versatile ceramic/polymer composite ink system for inkjet printing is developed in this study, containing Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). When developing such inks suitable for a one-step fabrication, the major challenge is to fulfill the requirements of the inkjet printing technology and to obtain homogeneous surface morphologies after drying. Thus, possible influencing factors like the solvent composition, the solids content, and the ratio of ceramic to polymer are investigated to obtain a detailed knowledge for the general ink development. The fluid mechanical properties, viscosity, density, and surface tension are characterized. The main focus of this study lies on the drying behavior of the different inks, with the interactions of the ceramic particles, and the dissolved polymer molecules being highlighted. Furthermore, the drying behavior depending on the ink composition is shown. This study provides new insights into the possibility of using composite inks for the inkjet printing process and the fabrication of printed composite thick films in a single process step.