Interaction between Ink and Printed Surface

There are various interaction phenomena between an ink and the printed surface during the printing process. It wets the surface and then the absorption into the capillaries of the medium occurs. Within a period of some ms the colorant and the solvent of the ink separate. 

The wetting depends on the relative surface energies of the components that come into contact. Also, a selective adsorption may 

The above-described interactions may have a response on the final print quality. Important properties of the coated surface are the pore size and the chemical constitution. 

Initially, at the first contact of the ink with the surface to be printed, the chemical properties of the coating layer and the ink dominate the process. Afterwards, the structure of the pores becomes increasingly important. The hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties of the ink components then play a major role. 

the nature of the colorant, i.e., whether the ink is a dye-based ink or a pigment-based ink, will affect the quality of the printing. A proper fixation of the colorant on the surface produces a high optical print density, bright tone, a high sharpness, and high wet resistance. The effects of the above-described issues have been reviewed and exemplified in detail (14). 

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