Control of drop positioning using chemical patterning

TL;DR

This paper investigates how chemical patterning with hydrophobic grids can precisely control drop positioning and shape, reducing image degradation caused by uneven coalescence in printing processes.

Contribution

It demonstrates both numerical and experimental methods for using chemical patterning to manipulate drop wetting and improve printing quality.

Findings

Hydrophobic grids effectively confine drops and control their shape.

Chemical patterning reduces mottle in printed images.

The approach combines numerical simulations with experimental validation.

Abstract

We explore how chemical patterning on surfaces can be used to control drop wetting. Both numerical and experimental results are presented to show how the dynamic pathway and equilibrium shape of the drops are altered by a hydrophobic grid. The grid proves a successful way of confining drops and we show that it can be used to alleviate {\it mottle}, a degradation in image quality which results from uneven drop coalescence due to randomness in the positions of the drops within the jetted array.