Controlling Coffee Ring Formation during Drying of Inkjet Printed 2D-Inks

The morphology of drops of graphene oxide (GO) inks produced by inkjet printing shows a distinctive coffee ring after drying when the mean diameter of the GO is below a critical size. Inks with larger diameter flakes do not show a coffee ring and the transition mean flake diameter decreases as the substrate temperature increases and when the printed drop size decreases. This behavior can be predicted with a model that compares the characteristic time for the agglomeration of high aspect ratio particles in suspension with the time scale for an evaporating liquid drop to begin receding during the drying process. The model is shown to accurately describe the transition from a coffee ring to a uniform dried deposit using a range of GO inks with mean flake size in the range 0.3 – 35.9 μm, drying temperatures of 20 – 60 °C, and drop sizes with contact diameter ranging from 30 – 800 μm.