Inkjet printers are widely used for the decoration of ceramic surfaces, tiles and dishes. The production of the proper ink is the most important issue in inkjet printers.

In this research, the researchers tried to produce an ink based on cobalt-alumina pigments.

According to Dr. Atasheh Soleimani, member of the Scientific Board of Institute for Color Science and Technology, the reduction in production cost of ceramic nano ink to be used in inkjet printers is one of the most advantages of the proposed method.

"On the other hand, the proposed ink helps the reduction of environmental pollution since it is based on water," she said.

Dr. Soleimani noted that blocking of inkjet printers are reduced by producing inkjet ceramic nano inks and the traditional printings system in ceramic industries can be replaced with the new one.

"First of all, the ceramic nano pigments prepared for the production of ceramic nano inks were formulated by using various dispersers," she said, adding, "The best disperser for the stability of the ink was chosen in this stage.

Dr. Soleimani said that next, cobalt alumina nano pigments were produced through co-precipitation method in the presence of surfactants, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and a combination of PVP and CTAB.

"The effect of the presence of surfactants was studied on the final properties of the nano pigments," Dr. Soleimani said explaining how the nano ink was produced and how its characteristics were studied.