In situ production of nano-CoAl2O4 on a ceramic surface by ink-jet printing

The nano-CoAl2O4 pigments were produced on ceramic substrate by ink-jet printing technology via a chemical reaction between two different water-soluble inks, which are based on aluminium citrate and cobalt nitrate. The surface tension and viscosity of the prepared inks were evaluated. The ink-jet printing process was repeated 1, 3 and 5 times in order to evaluate variations in the optical properties by changing thickness of printed film. Following initial drying of the printed film, the samples were annealed at different temperatures (900 °C, 1000 °C and 1100 °C) to determine the optimum temperature for the parameters set out in this experiment. The prepared nano-CoAl2O4 pigments were characterized by TGA, XRD and UV spectroscopy. The appearance of printed image and the nano-CoAl2O4 pigment morphology were observed by SEM. The results demonstrated that the ink-jet printing technology can be used to produce nano-pigment films on the ceramic surface.