Electrostatic Toner Shell with Hydroxyl Groups
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrostatic latent image developing toners lack durability and chargeability, especially in high-temperature and high-humidity environments, making them unsuitable for long-term high-quality image formation.
Innovation Solution
The toner particles consist of a core with a binder resin and a shell layer formed from a resin with at least one repeating unit containing an alcoholic hydroxyl group, where the specific hydroxyl group-including unit ratio is between 0.1% and 20% by mass, enhancing chemical bonding and charge stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a capsule toner with a toner core having a softening temperature of at least 40°C and no greater than 150°C is used, then the toner can be formed into capsule particles, but the toner lacks durability and cannot maintain high-quality image formation over an extended period
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a composite shell layer structure comprising a resin with alcoholic hydroxyl groups (0.1-20% by mass) combined with a crosslinking agent. This composite material approach provides both the manufacturability of capsule particles and the durability needed for long-term operation, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes the softening temperature parameter of the toner core to a specific range (40-150°C) and controls the hydroxyl group content in the shell layer resin to 0.1-20% by mass. These parameter changes enable the toner to maintain capsule structure integrity during manufacturing while achieving durability during extended use.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional toner composition is used, then the toner can be produced with basic functionality, but the toner lacks sufficient chargeability in high-temperature and high-humidity environments
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces alcoholic hydroxyl groups specifically in the shell layer of the toner particles, creating a localized chemical modification that enhances chargeability in high-temperature and high-humidity environments without affecting the overall toner production process. This local quality change resolves the contradiction between ease of manufacture and chargeability reliability.
3Reliability
If the shell layer is formed from a resin with high alcoholic hydroxyl group content, then the toner achieves improved durability and chargeability, but the resin composition becomes more complex and harder to control
Solution Approach 1:
The invention establishes specific parameter ranges for the resin composition: alcoholic hydroxyl group content of 0.1-20% by mass and softening temperature of 40-150°C. These controlled parameter changes achieve improved durability while preventing excessive composition complexity, as the ranges are narrow enough to maintain manufacturability yet wide enough to ensure performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A toner contains a plurality of toner particles each including a core and a shell layer disposed over a surface of the core. The core contains a binder resin. The shell layer is substantially formed from a resin having at least one repeating unit including an alcoholic hydroxyl group (specific examples include a repeating unit derived from 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxy propyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and 2-hydroxy propyl methacrylate). A ratio of the repeating unit including the alcoholic hydroxyl group relative to all repeating units in the resin substantially forming the shell layer is at least 0.1% by mass and no greater than 20% by mass.