Tailored ink for piston driven electrostatic liquid drop modulator

Patent Number: 6,881,250
Issued: 4/19/2005
Official Filing: View the Complete Patent
Abstract: The present invention relates to an ink composition including water, a solvent, a solvent-soluble dye, and a surfactant, where the ink exhibits a stable liquid microemulsion phase at a first temperature and a second temperature higher than the first temperature and has a conductivity of at most about 200 .mu.S/cm and a dielectric constant of at least about 60, and methods of making such ink compositions. The present invention also relates to a method of making an ink composition for use in a microelectromechanical system-based fluid ejector. The method involves providing a solution or dispersion including a dye or a pigment and adding to the solution or dispersion an additive which includes a material that enhances dielectric permittivity and/or reduces conductivity under conditions effective to produce an ink composition having a conductivity of at most about 200 .mu.S/cm and a dielectric constant of at least about 60.
Filed: 1/15/2003
Application Number: 10/345,426
Government Interests: STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention.