Preparation and Properties of Inkjet Ink for Polyester Carpet Printing

Polyester carpet inkjet printing, with its advantages of environmental friendliness and customization, has become an important focus in digital printing research. A large number of additives are typically incorporated to enhance the physicochemical stability and jetting fluidity during the preparation of polyester inkjet inks. However, the desorption of the dispersant may be conducted during storage and application, while changes has been presented in dye crystallinity and particle agglomeration. It could lead to nozzle clogging and reduced inkjet printing performance. This study investigates that the dispersion properties of four dispersants: sodium hexadecyl sulfonate (SHS), sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SLS), BYK-190 and BYK-191. Sodium hexadecyl sulfonate (SHS) was selected as the dispersant to analyze the effects of dispersant content on dispersion performance. Additionally, the stability of Disperse Red R167 dye at the room-temperature was evaluated. The results indicate that SHS is a preferred dispersant for polyester inkjet printing disperse dye inks. The minimum grinding particle size of Disperse Red R167 was 348.6 nm, while the content of SHS was 12.5 wt.%. It demonstrated that it resulted in the highest grinding efficiency. The stability of Disperse Red R167 dye paste was relatively poor, because of the viscosity decreasing from 4.45 mPa·s to 1.96 mPa·s after 60 days of storage at room temperature. This research provides some guidances for the production and preparation of polyester inkjet printing disperse dye inks.