Toner Polymer Adhesion Hydrogen Bonding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toners, particularly those using styrene-acryl resin, face challenges in adhesion to recording media with hydrophilic groups, especially at folded portions, and struggle to achieve both high productivity and low temperature fixing ability while maintaining image quality and reducing environmental impact.
Innovation Solution
A toner comprising polymer particles with a structural unit represented by a specific formula, where R1 is an alkyl group and R2 and R3 can be hydrogen or ester groups, enhancing adhesion through hydrogen bonding with the recording medium, and prepared by radical polymerization or copolymerization of specific monomers, including acrylic acid esters and ionic dissociation groups, to improve charging properties and low temperature fixing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If styrene-acryl resin is used as toner binder, then productivity is improved and manufacturing is easier, but adhesion to recording media with hydrophilic groups deteriorates and low temperature fixing ability is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical structure parameters of the toner binder by introducing specific functional groups (carboxyl, hydroxyl, or amine groups with specific pKa values) into the polymer chain. This changes the surface chemistry and adhesion properties of the toner particles, enabling better bonding to hydrophilic recording media while maintaining the productivity advantages of aqueous-phase manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite resin structure by grafting functional monomers (acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, their esters, or amino acid derivatives) onto a polymer backbone. This composite approach combines the manufacturing advantages of styrene-acryl resins with the adhesion properties of polar functional groups, achieving both high productivity and excellent low-temperature fixing ability
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional toner binders are used, then manufacturing is simpler, but low temperature fixing ability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal and chemical parameters of the binder resin by selecting polymers with specific glass transition temperatures (Tg) and incorporating functional groups with specific pKa values. These parameter modifications enable the toner to maintain stability during manufacturing while achieving low-temperature fixing through enhanced adhesion mechanisms that don't rely solely on thermal softening
3Temperature
If styrene-acryl resin is used, then synthesis temperature is lower, but adhesion to folded portions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical composition parameters of the resin to include polar functional groups (carboxyl, hydroxyl, or amine groups) that can form hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions with the cellulose fibers in paper. This chemical modification enables reliable adhesion at folded portions while maintaining the low synthesis temperature advantage of aqueous-phase polymerization
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The toner exhibits excellent productivity, charging properties, high fixing ability at folded portions, and resistance to light, with improved adhesion and reduced environmental impact, outperforming conventional styrene-acryl resin toners in low temperature fixing and light resistance.
Implementation Method 1
improving adhesion through hydrogen bonding with the recording medium
Implementation Method 2
prepared by radical polymerization or copolymerization of specific monomers
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a toner for developing an electrostatic image and its manufacturing method, the toner being comprised of toner particles, wherein the toner particles contain as a resin a polymer having a structural unit represented by the following formula 1, wherein R1 represents an alkyl group having a carbon atom number of from 1 to 8, which may have a substituent; and R2 and R3 independently represent a hydrogen atom, -OR4 or -OCOR5, in which R4 and R5 independently represent an alkyl group having a carbon atom number of from to 8, provided that at least one of R2 and R3 is OR4 or -OCOR5.