Crown Ether Bis-diazo Dyes for Aqueous Inkjet Inks by Micro Emulsion Technique

Three newly synthesized crown ether dyes were used as colorants for micro emulsion based aqueous inkjet inks. The micro emulsions were formulated using the standard phase diagram method and were characterized by dynamic light scattering. The stability, conductivity, viscosity, surface tension and such other properties of the micro emulsions were also studied. The micro emulsions were then used in formulating ink jet inks that contained the dissolved dyes in the volatile nano sized oil droplets as well as in the interfacial area of the droplets. Hence the use of the microemulsions as the vehicle for the ink resulted in better dye loading. Moreover the use of crown ether dyes gave better fastness properties for the inks due to the non-covalent interactions between the cellulose of the paper and the oxygen in the macrocyclic ring.