Doctor Blade Technique

2.2.
8 DOCTOR BLADE

A. Berni, M. Mennig, H. Schmidt

1. INTRODUCTION

Doctor blade (or tape casting) is one of the widely used techniques for producing
thin films on large area surfaces. Tape casting is a relatively new process which
was originally developed during the 1940s as a method of forming thin sheets of
piezoelectric materials and capacitors [1] and is now an accepted precision coat-
ing method. One patent, issued in 1952, focuses on the use of aqueous and non
aqueous slurries applied to moving plaster batts by a doctor blading device [2].
In the doctor blading process, a well-mixed slurry consisting of a suspension of
ceramic particles along with other additives (such as binders, dispersants or plas-
ticizers) is placed on a substrate beyond the doctor blade. When a constant rela-
tive movement is established between the blade and the substrate, the slurry
spreads on the substrate to form a thin sheet which results in a gel-layer upon
drying. The doctor blading can operate at speed up to several meters per minute
and it is suitable to coat substrate with a very wide range of wet film thicknesses
ranging from 20 to several hundred microns.
There are two generally different coating devices in use: a doctor blade (e.g.
a rectangular frame) and a spiral film applicator.

2. DOCTOR BLADE (FRAME)

This kind of doctor blade is also used in combination with a reservoir. The effect
of the reservoir geometry on the flow of the sol is described in [3]. The layer is
formed by a doctor blade that is either stationary when used with a moving cast-
ing surface, or by a frame that moves along a stationary casting surface. The
principle is shown in figure 1.
Sol-gel technologies for glass producers and users

90
Substrate
Doctor blade(Frame)

Figure 1. Principle of doctor blading using a frame with a reservoir of coating
liquid which is moving relatively to the substrate.

The thickness of the layer is metered by adjusting the gap between the doctor
blade and the substrate, as it is illustrated in figure 2.

Substrate
Doctor blade (frame)
Sol

Figure 2. Wet layer thickness control by the gap between the frame and the
blade.

The use of dual doctor blades in series has also been described in [4]. These
blades provide very precise thickness control of the final layers.
Doctor blade coating techniques are also used for coating plastic foils with
coating liquids [5]. In this case, the blade is positioned across a roll and the web
is moved underneath the blade, as one can see from figure 3.
stationary roll
web
tank
sol
wet film
blade (Meier bar)

Figure 3. Doctor blade coating technique for plastic foil (Meier bar).
Doctor blade

91
The gap between the blade can be adjusted by precision holders in the range
of +/- 10 m. The tank for the coating sol reservoir can be filled by continuous
pumping, in order to avoid bubbles in the reservoir.

3. SPIRAL FILM APPLICATOR

The spiral film applicator is mostly used for coating foils, leather, textiles or
other flexible materials with uneven surfaces. By using the spiral film applicator,
the underlaying substrate is pressed down and flattened. The principle set-up is
shown in figure 4.

Substrate
Sol
Spiral

Figure 4. Principle set-up of doctor blading with a spiral film applicator.

The wet layer thickness is defined by the geometry and the size of the gaps,
the spirals and the gap-to-spiral-ratio as one can see from figure 5.
Substrate
Spiral

Figure 5. Demonstration of the wet layer thickness control by the geometry and
size of the gaps between the spiral and the gap-to-spiral-ratio.

It is evident, that for both frame and spiral set-up, the wet film thickness is
not only depending on the geometry of the coating device, but also on the wet-
ting and the viscosity of the coating sol, as it is described below.
Sol-gel technologies for glass producers and users

92
Doctor blades and spiral film applicators are used in concert with tape-
casting machines, which are either stationary blade/moving carrier machines or
moving blade/stationary carrier machines. Tape casting machines range in size
from 2 to more than 35 m in length and to more than 1.25 m in width.

4. LAYER THICKNESS

The theoretical wet layer thickness corresponds to the height of the doctor
blades edge, or the spiral geometry, respectively. However, the wet layer is
sheared during the layer application due to the surface tension of the sol, the
wetting behaviour and the rheological properties of the sol (dynamic viscosity)
and the coating speed. This has the consequence, that the practical wet layer
thickness is only 60 to 70 % of the theoretical ones. The final, dried layer thick-
ness of course also depends on the solid content and the densification behaviour
of the sol.
An analytical model for the film thickness as a function of the process pa-
rameters has been proposed by Chan, Ko and Yan [6].
In [7], the fluid mechanic associated with the flow of the sol-gel-slurry dur-
ing the doctor blading process is analyzed.

5. REFERENCES

1. G. Howatt, R. Breckenridge, Fabrication of Thin Ceramic Sheets for Capacitors, J. Brownlow, J.
Am. Ceram. Soc., 30, 237 (1947)
2. G. N. Howatt, Method of Producing High-Dielectric High-Insulation Ceramic Plates, US Patent
2582993
3. P. Gaskell, B. Rand, J. Summers, H. Thompson, The effect of reservoir geometry on the flow
within ceramic tape casters. J. of the Europ. Ceram. Soc., 17, 1185 (1997)
4. R. Runk, M. Andrejco, A precision tape casting machine for fabricating thin ceramic tapes, A.
Ceram. Soc. Bull., 54(2), 199 (1975)
5. S. Abbott, Wet Web coatings on transparent plastic foils, Proc. of the 4
th
International Confer-
ence on Coating on Glass (4
th
ICCG), Braunschweig/Germany, C.P. Klages, H.J. Glser, M.A.
Aegerter (eds.), 395 (2002)
6. Y. Chou, Y. Ko, M. Yan, Fluid Flow Model for Ceramic Tape Casting, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 70
(10), C280 (1987)
7. R. Pitchumani, V. Karbhari, A Generalized Fluid Flow Model for Ceramic Tape Casting, J. Am.
Ceram. Soc., 78 (9), 2497 (1995)

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What are the two main types of doctor blade coating devices?

How does the doctor blade control the thickness of the wet layer?

2.2.

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