Surface-process correlation for an ink-jet printed transparent fluoroplastic

Abstract

Ink-jet printing is one of the key technologies in the field of defined polymer deposition. There is currently a lack of knowledge regarding how some fluoropolymers, in this case THV 221, can be ink-jet printed. A quantitative analysis of the micro-scale areal surface topography measured with coherence scanning interferometry can advance the understanding of the correlation between the ink-jet printing process and the resulting surface topography. Our experimental design covers a variety of ink-jet printed THV 221 structures with basic geometric shapes such as dots and films, ranging from a few nanometres to tens of micrometres in height, and from tens of micrometres to a few millimetres in spatial wavelength. Relevant printing parameters, including polymer concentration, drop spacing and number of layers have been selected and varied to produce the samples used for the study. This investigation also provides an insight into how to control and optimise the quality of THV 221 printed parts.