Ink-jet printing of ceramic pillar arrays

A high performance 500 nozzle in-line piezoelectric drop-on-demand print-head mounted on a linear table with z-axis control was used to prepare arrays of fine ceramic pillars. Such structures may find applications in miniature heat exchangers, catalyst supports, for cell up-regulation in prosthetics or in polymer-ceramic piezoelectric 1-3 composites. The ink conveyed 14 vol% fine zirconia and deposited a wax-based suspension in an octane-alcohol mixture. The dried ink contained 63 vol% zirconia. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.