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Evaluation of absorption of micro-droplets on paper for creation of paper-based microstructures

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Abstract

This study clarifies the absorption behavior of micro-droplets of water on treated paper to support the design of functional microstructures, such as electronics and micro-fluid channels, on paper. The period of time between when a micro-droplet of water ejected from an ink-jet head lands on the paper’s surface and its complete disappearance by absorption was defined as the micro-sizing degree (MSD), and an MSD measurement method was established. The MSD was evaluated using microscopic high-speed video images of the side view recorded every millisecond. Several grades of commercially available ink-jet paper media and laboratory sheets having different levels of water repellency prepared from a pulp and a sizing agent were examined. The MSD of commercial ink-jet papers, which are known to absorb water very quickly, was 3–6 ms. Weakly sized laboratory sheets exhibited a lower MSD of 2–3 ms. The absorption behavior was analyzed in terms of the capillary pressure with and without the Laplace pressure; the theoretical and experimental results agreed moderately well. The results indicated that the Laplace pressure cannot be neglected in the analysis. The MSD of a wet surface where a preceding micro-droplet had already landed was higher than that on a dry or partially wet surface, presumably because water remains inside pores for an unexpectedly long time.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express special thanks to Mr. Kazumasa Matsumoto, Konica Minolta, for giving us the opportunity to use the KIE-2 system. They also thank the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology (JSPST) for their financial support: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) No. 22380092 (2009) and Research Fund for Printing Technology (2009 and 2011), respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Toshiharu Enomae, Kazutomo Dogome & Akira Isogai

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  1. Toshiharu Enomae
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  2. Kazutomo Dogome
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  3. Akira Isogai
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Correspondence to Toshiharu Enomae.

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Enomae, T., Dogome, K. & Isogai, A. Evaluation of absorption of micro-droplets on paper for creation of paper-based microstructures. J Mater Sci 47, 3554–3563 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-011-6201-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-011-6201-5

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