Morphological Control of Linear Particle Deposits from the Drying of Inkjet-Printed Rivulets

Abstract

We studied the morphology and dimensional characteristics of linear particle deposits obtained by inkjet-printing of silica nanoparticle suspension in drying condition where contact line depinning occurs. We show that this mode of evaporation can be obtained for isolated or fused drops by adjusting the particle concentration in different solvents. In the case of isolated drops, deposited manually or by inkjet printing, drying induces the formation of two concentric rings in which the particles self-assemble into a continuous and compact monolayer. In the case of fused drops, our main result is that stable rivulets could be formed by controlled drop overlap leading, after drying, to the formation of three continuous and parallel lines composed of a single layer of self-assembled particles. The three lines are of homogeneous thickness with two very thin outer lines (∽ 1 µm width) and a wider central line (∽ 20 µm width). We reveal how the width of the resulting lines is influenced by drop spacing in a predictable manner for a large experimental window knowing the drop size.