Advances in Inkjet Printing: Thermal Inkjet, and Gold Inks

Owing to their simple print-head architecture, thermal inkjet (TIJ) printers are a lower-cost option for printing than piezoelectric inkjet printing and print at a faster speed with a high-quality finish. They can print on a wide variety of surfaces, including regular and specialty papers, plastics, metals and cartons. Most of these printers are simple to use and require very minimal training or practice. However, many challenges still exist in developing reliable conductive inks for TIJ. For instance, the inks for this purpose must avoid sintering and fouling at the printhead’s thermal ejection point. Building on years of ink design and nanoparticle incorporation experience, NovaCentrix has developed a portfolio of conductive inks that are compatible with thermal inkjet printheads. This innovative step in printed conductive materials will enable the design of printed electronics to a wider audience. Using readily available and affordable thermal inkjet printheads, at-home crafters, STEM educators, and product packaging businesses can realize their printed electronics designs on a wide range of low-temperature and flexible substrates.

Joining NovaCentrix in 2008, Dr. Dave Pope leads the inks development group as Vice President of R&D and Manufacturing. He works with the applications and sales teams to provide customers with solutions for their printing projects. Dave holds 6 US patents in a variety of fields and has worked for a number of companies – including Schlumberger, Cabot Corp, and Sasol. He received his BS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.