Inkjet printing of polyurethane colloidal suspensions

van den Berg, Antje M. J.; Smith, Patrick J.; Perelaer, Jolke; Schrof, Wolfgang; Koltzenburg, Sebastian; Schubert, Ulrich S.

Abstract:

An aqueous 40 wt% dispersion of polyurethane has been successfully printed at room temperature using a piezoelectric inkjet printer. Simple layered structures, as well as dots, were made and subsequently analyzed using white-light interferometry. A single layer was found to have a structure height of 10 mm; a value that suggests that this polyurethane dispersion may be suitable for use in rapid prototyping, since tall structures can be rapidly produced using only a few printing passes. Finally, by the simple addition of a water-soluble dye, colour gradients were produced using this printing technique.

Year:

2007

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

Soft Matter

Volume:

3

Pages:

238 - 243