Impact Factor (JCC): 1.5429- This article can be downloaded from www.bestjournals.in THE CHEMISTRY OF INKJET INKS FOR DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTING - REVIEW BENJAMIN TAWIAH 1 , EBENEZER K. HOWARD 2 & BENJAMIN K. ASINYO 3 1 Key Laboratory of Eco-Textiles, Jiangnan University, Ministry of Education, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China 1, 2, 3 Department of Industrial Art (Textiles), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB - Kumasi, Ghana ABSTRACT Inkjet inks are the most important component in inkjet printing. The formulation and chemistry of inks determine the printing quality as well as jetting characteristics. Digital printing technology has transformed textiles printing with significant success in terms of print speed, print head technology and color gamut. Nonetheless, ink penetration and its related quality problems are still receiving a high level of attention by researchers around the globe to develop superior inks that can surpass the quality of prints obtained by the conventional methods of printing. This review seeks to take a perfunctory look at the various ink chemistries being developed to address the color related problems in digital textiles inkjet printing and the various pretreatment technologies available for ensuring excellent K/S and color fastness as well as jetting behavior of Newtonian inkjet inks in DOD drop formation. In addition, various issues relating to quality of digital inkjet printer fabrics and ink development have been highlighted. Significant strides have been made in the quest for environmentally friendly universal inks that can print all textiles substrate. KEYWORDS: Inkjet Ink, Dye, Pigment, Digital Printing, Textile INTRODUCTION Inkjet printing has become the new frontier in textile printing, offering advantages in process efficiency, ease of use, cost effectiveness and environmental impact (Pekarovicova 2016a, Magdassi 2010). Digital fabric printing has rapidly evolved over the last few decades creating new opportunities for designers, printers and consumers alike. One important component of this technology besides the machinery is the ink. The study and growth of inks dates back to 2500 B.C. when the Egyptians and Chinese invented carbon residue made from burning oil mixed with water or gum by the first century and used it for various purposes(Dharmesh 2005). Since then there has been slow and steady growth generally in color development. Today, modern ink industries are motivated by constantly changing printing technologies and demands from the printers and end users (Dominioni 2003). Faster printing speeds, more cost-effective processes, and tougher environmental regulations are a few of the challenges currently facing the ink industry (Magdassi 2010). For all the different types of inks, there are two very important properties thus cohesion and adhesion. Cohesion describes the ink’s ability to hold together; adhesion refers to its power to stick to a different material, e.g., a substrate (Adams 2004, Fromm 1984). These two properties are common from the point of view of the physico-chemical nature of the pigment particles especially because their disperse ability is defined by the amount of energy required to distribute the individual pigment particles in a continuous medium so that each pigment particle is completely surrounded by the medium, and no longer makes contact with other pigment particles(Oyarzun 2000). The intra-molecular and inter- BEST: International Journal of Management, Information Technology and Engineering (BEST: IJMITE) ISSN (P): 2348-0513, ISSN (E): 2454-471X, Vol. 4, Issue 5, May 2016, 61-78 © BEST Journals