The Amber Project: A Survey of Methods and Inks for the Reproduction of the Color of Translucent Objects

Unlike regular pigments based on selective light absorption, the so-called “effect pigments″ are based on the phenomena of structural color, or selective reflectance. Structural color has appealing aesthetic qualities, such as angle-dependent hue, and is able to produce lightfast colors. When used as a pigment, however, the gamut of the print is more limited, the color is difficult to measure, and therefore color management and preprint process become challenging. The aim of this paper is to compare the behavior of effect pigments in the processes of lithographic and screen printing with standard pigments used in so-called process inks, and to analyze their optical properties when used on their own or in combination with absorption pigments. An image of amber beads was printed as screen prints and lithographs. Three sets of inks were used: Set one: Standard process inks in the colors cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK); set two: RGB inks formulated with Merck Spectraval™ pearlescent pigments which allow additive red, green, blue printing on a black substrate; and set three: golden inks formulated with pigments from the Merck Iriodin™ and Pyrisma™ effect pigment range. The image was printed on white and black paper. The optical appearance was assessed visually, and spectra and color coordinates were measured.

Printed Nanocarbon Heaters for Stretchable Sport and Leisure Garments

The ability to maintain body temperature has been shown to bring about improvements in sporting performance. However, current solutions are limited with regards to flexibility, heating uniformity and robustness. An innovative screen-printed Nanocarbon heater is demonstrated which is robust to bending, folding, tensile extensions of up to 20% and machine washing. This combination of ink and substrate enables the heated garments to safely flex without impeding the wearer. It is capable of producing uniform heating over a 15 × 4 cm area using a conductive ink based on a blend of Graphite Nanoplatelets and Carbon Black. This can be attributed to the low roughness of the conductive carbon coating, the uniform distribution and good interconnection of the carbon particles. The heaters have a low thermal inertia, producing a rapid temperature response at low voltages, reaching equilibrium temperatures within 120 s of being switched on. The heaters reached the 40 °C required for wearable heating applications within 20 s at 12 Volts. Screen printing was demonstrated to be an effective method of controlling the printed layer thickness with good interlayer adhesion and contact for multiple printed layers. This can be used to regulate their electrical properties and hence adjust the heater performance.

Enhanced Field Emission of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Cathode Prepared by Screen Printing with a Silver Paste Buffer Layer

A high emission current with relatively low operating voltage is critical for field emission cathodes in vacuum electronic devices (VEDs). This paper studied the field emission performance of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) cold cathodes prepared by screen printing with a silver paste buffer layer. The buffer layer can both enforce the adhesion between the SWCNTs and substrate, and decrease their contact resistance, so as to increase emission current. Compared with paste mixing CNTs and screen printed cathodes, the buffer layer can avoid excessive wrapping of CNTs in the silver slurry and increase effective emission area to reduce the operating voltage. The experimental results show that the turn-on field of the screen-printed SWCNT cathodes is 0.9 V/μm, which is lower than that of electrophoretic SWCNT cathodes at 2.0 V/μm. Meanwhile, the maximum emission current of the screen-printed SWCNT cathodes reaches 5.55 mA at DC mode and reaches 10.4 mA at pulse mode, which is an order magnitude higher than that of electrophoretic SWCNTs emitters. This study also shows the application insight of small or medium-power VEDs.

The influence of carbon morphologies and concentrations on the rheology and electrical performance of screen-printed carbon pastes

Screen-printing inks containing various morphologies of carbon are used in the production of a variety of printed electronics applications. Particle morphology influences the rheology of the ink which will affect the deposition and therefore the electrical performance of a printed component. To assess the effect of both carbon morphology and concentration on print topography and conductivity, screen printable carbon inks with differing loading concentrations of graphite, carbon black and graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) were formulated, printed and characterised, with rheological and novel print visualisation techniques used to elucidate the mechanisms responsible. Carbon morphology had significant effects on the packing of particles. The smaller carbon black particles had more interparticle interactions leading to better conductivities, but also higher ink viscosities and elasticities than the other morphologies. Increases in carbon concentration led to increases in film thickness and roughness for all morphologies. However, beyond a critical point further increases in carbon concentration led to agglomerations of particles, mesh marking and increases in surface roughness, preventing further improvements in the print conductivity. The optimal loading concentrations were identifiable using a custom-made screen-printing apparatus used with high speed imaging for all morphologies. Notable increases in filamentation during ink separation were found to occur with further increases in carbon concentration beyond the optimum. As this point could not be identified using shear rheology alone, this method combined with shear rheology could be used to optimise the carbon concentration of screen-printing inks, preventing the use of excess material which has no benefit on print quality and conductivity.

DECONSTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF THE KACU CONCEPT OF BATIK AS INSPIRATION FOR ARTWORKS

Batik is one of the arts that contains a whole descriptive belief about how Javanese interpret their lives. It is found inclassical batiks, which are still committed to the standard elements from Keraton as a center for preserving Javaneseculture. Through studying classical batik, the writer finds a concept of Kacu ratio used in making batik. For thewriter, the kacu is a local form of genius that belongs to the Javanese community. The consciousness of the emptinesspermeates all material forms that exist in the universe. This belief is also applied to the process of designing batikfabrics. For the Javanese, beauty lies in the balance of macro and microcosmos. The actual balance lies at the pointof paradox. Through this research, similarities in the numbers of the Kacu ratio, which is believed to be the goldenratio of the Javanese people in ancient times were sought. Then the equation would be applied to the artwork. Thisstudy uses a qualitative method with several literature sources to dissect the Kacu concept and apply it to works ofart. The writer uses the Kacu concept to arrange visual objects as a scale and balance composition through a formalistapproach. Finally, the writer presents batik and screen-printing techniques on textile. Therefore, the writer needsto study the Kacu ratio further to understand what this ancient ratio means in the beliefs of the Javanese people.