Inkjet printing of surfactant solutions onto thin moving porous media
Gianmarco Venditti, Vignesh Murali, Anton A. Darhuber
Abstract
We have studied the combined imbibition and evaporation of surfactant solutions into thin porous media by means of experiments and numerical simulations. Solutions of anionic and non-ionic surfactants were deposited onto moving sheets of paper by a droplet-on-demand inkjet system. Optical transmission imaging and infrared thermography were used to monitor their lateral transport and evaporation. Moreover, we propose a theoretical model based on a dual-porosity approach that accounts for moisture and surfactant transport in both the pores and the fibers of the paper sheets as well as for surfactant adsorption. The numerical simulations reproduce the experimental data qualitatively well.
Topics & Concepts
Pulmonary surfactantPorous mediumMaterials scienceImbibitionEvaporationPorosityAdsorptionCondensationChemical engineeringInfraredThin filmComposite materialNanotechnologyOpticsChemistryThermodynamicsOrganic chemistryPhysicsBotanyEngineeringBiologyGerminationMaterial Properties and ProcessingNanomaterials and Printing TechnologiesElectrowetting and Microfluidic Technologies