Characterization of printed pigment-based inks on ink-jet media using cross-sectional electron microscopy

This paper reports on the microscopic assessment of representative specimen cross-sections prepared by microtomy and ultramicrotomy with emphasis in structure–property information using optical, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, namely, the absolute optical density δ, the measured effective printing coverage C̃, the averaged pigment-based ink layer thickness t̄, and the morphology at 100% nominal printing coverage. This work shows that for different test patches printed at the same nominal printing coverage a number of different printing schemes yield a pre-defined absolute optical density δ which basically depends on the measured effective printing coverage C̃ and the type of pigment-based inks used (spectral absorptivity m≠∞) and therefore on the averaged pigment-based ink layer thickness t̄. A method for estimating the spectral absorptivity m is presented which combines the absolute optical density δ of the test patch and the averaged pigment-based ink layer thickness t̄ as measured from cross-sectional electron microscopy.