Prediction of drop-on-demand (DOD) pattern size in pulse voltage-applied electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing of Ag colloid ink

Drop-on-demand printing is receiving a great deal of interest in industrial applications; however, the desired pattern sizes are realized by trial and error, through repeated printing experiments with varied materials (ink and suspended particles), operating conditions (voltage, flow rate, nozzle-to-plate distance, etc.), and substrate wettability. Since this approach requires a great deal of time, cost, and effort, a more convenient and efficient method that will predict pattern sizes with a minimal number of experiments is needed. In this study, we patterned a series of Ag dots and lines using a pulsed voltage-applied electrohydrodynamic jet printing system and measured their sizes with an optical microscope. We then applied a model suggested by Stringer and Derby (J Eur Ceram Soc 29: 913-918, 2009) and Gao and Sonin (Proc R Soc Lond Ser A 444: 533-554, 1994) to predict the pattern sizes, comparing these predictions with the measured sizes. Finally, we demonstrated our methodology on disconnected line repairing.