Development of digital inkjet printing and inks for a sustainable and resource efficient textile process

The overall aim of this project is to explore the potential of digital inkjet printing in industrial application. Inkjet printing is an emerging resource efficient process, which uses significantly less amount of recourses such as raw materials, water, energy and produces less wastewater. However, the application of industrial-scale digital printing is limited on coloration.

Start date: 2020-05-01

End date: 2023-10-30

The goal of this project is to create novel strategies for the formulation of miniemulsion ink and optimization of digital inkjet printing for functional and smart textile applications. Miniemulsion is a form of emulsion, in which two immiscible compound can form a dispersion. Therefore, two components, a color (functional) nanoparticle and a binder can be formulated within the requirements of digital printing, i.e., the viscosity, particle size, surface tension and the design of waveform. The development of digital printing and inks will bridge and synchronize the development of print head and functional textile applications.