On-demand electrohydrodynamic printing with meniscus controls by a piezoelectric actuator

압전 액츄에이터의 메니스커스 제어를 통한 온 디멘드(On-demand) 전기 수력학 프린팅

On-demand ejection of ultra-fine droplets that uses both electrohydrodynamic (EHD) force and mechanical actuation is presented. The liquid meniscus was controlled by a piezoelectric actuator and droplets were ejected by EHD force. Through these effects, it was possible to obtain a high operational jetting frequency of 5kHz with a short delay-time (about 50 us) when compared with existing on-demand EHD jetting methods, such as the pulsating jet mode (3-10 msec) and the pulsed-voltage cone-jet mode(3.6 msec). Also, we obtained ultra-fine droplets at a volume that was at the femto-liter level simultaneously. The jetting characteristics were examined for both hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of the surface of a capillary.