I want to use an aqueous ink for screen printing. I optimized viscosity by adding surfactant. What else can be used for improving rheological properties?
Try polysaccharide thickeners. If an anionic polymer is OK, try xanthan. If an uncharged polymer is obligatory try the more exotic Schleroglucan. Even the very economical guar might be OK, if its unrefined character is not a handicap.
You need to look at thixotropy. Specifically, very high viscosity: about 1 million at 0.3 or 0.5 rpm (brookfield viscometer). Then much lower viscosity at 10-30 rpm. This will produce a screen printable yet non-slumping formulation. I would try to get this by adding a very small size filler particle.