Vinyl Alcohol Polymer Coating for Ink Jet Water Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vinyl alcohol polymers with silyl groups face challenges in achieving sufficient solubility and viscosity stability in aqueous solutions, particularly at neutral pH, and struggle to provide coatings with adequate water resistance and binder performance for ink jet and thermal recording materials.
Innovation Solution
A vinyl alcohol polymer with a specific monomer unit structure, where a silyl group is bound to the main chain via an alkylene group with 3 or more carbon atoms, is used in an aqueous solution with a viscosity average degree of polymerization and monomer unit content within a range of 370 ≤ P × S ≤ 6,000, ensuring improved solubility and water resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the content of silyl group-containing monomer units is increased to enhance water resistance and binder force, then the water resistance and binder force improve, but the solubility in water deteriorates and alkali or acid addition becomes necessary
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by precisely controlling the product (P × S) of viscosity average degree of polymerization and silyl group content within the range of 100-6000, and setting the silyl group content at 0.1-50 mol%. This optimization resolves the contradiction by finding the optimal parameter range where both water resistance and solubility are satisfied without requiring alkali or acid addition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining vinyl alcohol polymer with specific silyl group-containing monomer units (having 3-20 carbon atoms) to create a copolymer structure. This composite approach allows the material to exhibit both good water resistance from the silyl groups and adequate solubility from the vinyl alcohol backbone, eliminating the need for pH adjustment.
2Strength
If the content of silyl group-containing monomer units is increased to enhance binder force to inorganic substances, then the binder force improves, but the viscosity stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by optimizing the product (P × S) to be within 100-6000 and silyl group content to be 0.1-50 mol%. This parameter optimization ensures that sufficient silyl groups are present for strong binder force while maintaining adequate polymer chain integrity for viscosity stability, eliminating the need for alkali or acid addition.
3Reliability
If the product (P × S) is increased to 370 or greater to enhance characteristics, then the water resistance improves, but the solubility deteriorates and alkali or acid addition becomes necessary
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the upper limit of (P × S) from the conventional 370 to 6000 while maintaining good solubility without alkali or acid addition. This is achieved by simultaneously optimizing the silyl group content (0.1-50 mol%) and the carbon atom number in the silyl group (3-20), creating a new parameter space where high water resistance and good solubility coexist.
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 solution provides a coating film with enhanced water resistance, binder performance, and reduced printing unevenness for ink jet recording materials, and improved water resistance and resistance to plasticizers for thermal recording materials, while maintaining solubility and viscosity stability.
Implementation Method 1
PVA is superior in strength characteristics and film-forming property as compared with other water-soluble synthetic macromolecules
Implementation Method 2
The silyl group-containing PVA has high water resistance and binder force to inorganic substances
Implementation Method 3
The silyl group-containing PVA has high water resistance
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a vinyl alcohol polymer that provides a coating film having superior water resistance and binder performances, and has sufficient solubility in water and viscosity stability even in a neutral pH region. Further provided are an aqueous solution, a coating agent, an ink jet recording material, a thermal recording material and a base paper for a release paper that comprise the vinyl alcohol polymer, and a method for producing same, and the like. The vinyl alcohol polymer includes a monomer unit represented by the following formula (1), with the following inequality (I) being satisfied. Preferably, the following inequalities (II) and (III) are further satisfied according to the PVA: 370≤P×S≤6,000 200≤P≤4,000 0.1≤S≤10 wherein, P represents the viscosity average degree of polymerization; and S represents the content (mol%) of the monomer unit.