JP2003094818A - Image forming material and image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming material, by which a highly sensitive image having high resolution and high sharpness can be obtained through exposure to light or heating without employing a complicated process and a valuable device and, at the same time, on which a direct image formation can be possible based on digital data with infrared laser or the like, and an image forming method. SOLUTION: In this image forming method, after a colorless dye precursor is given to the image forming material, which is formed by providing an image recording layer including a polymer compound having a functional group, the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of which can be changed under heat or radiation, on a support, an imagery heating or irradiation of radiation is applied to the resultant material so as to develop color in the color dye precursor through the change between the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the image recording layer. As the preferable colorless dye precursor, a leuco body, which develops color through oxidation, or the like is employed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming material and an image forming method which can be applied in various ways, and more particularly, to an image forming material which can easily form a fine and sharp image by irradiation of infrared laser. And an image forming method using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various image forming materials have been used as display materials and image forming materials. These are usually colored images such as ink adhered to the surface of a white image receiving material such as a paper medium, or non-transparent materials such as pigments attached to a transparent image receiving material such as a plastic film. By doing so, an image is formed. For image formation, for example, ink is attached to an image receiving material by inkjet printing, or as represented by a copying machine,
Various methods have been used, such as electrostatically adhering a colored material to the surface of an image receiving material and heating and fixing it, or using a heat-sensitive recording material to develop a dye precursor imagewise by heating. Further, as a method for forming a dense pattern with controlled orientation, for example, JP-A-2000-247799 proposes a method for producing a functional organic molecular thin film.
According to this method, a fine pattern can be formed, but for imagewise writing, UV exposure is performed through a mask such as a lith film as in the conventional image forming method of a lithographic printing plate precursor. However, the process is complicated as an image forming method. Further, in the conventional general image forming method, a high resolution image is formed on a large area image receiving material,
It has been difficult to form a high-density image on a thin image receiving material.

On the other hand, in recent years, as an image forming material, a method of directly forming an image on an image receiving material from a digitized image data without using a medium such as a lith film has attracted attention and various proposals have been made. By using such a digitized image forming method, it is expected that a fine pattern can be arbitrarily formed. As one of such methods, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-112077 discloses a technique for coloring a dye precursor by utilizing a photocatalytic reaction. According to this method, the dye precursor existing on the semiconductor surface can be colored by a strong oxidation reaction in the exposed region to form an image. This method gives a clear image without adding a developer to the dye precursor,
At present, it is difficult to obtain a high color density, and from the viewpoint of versatility, it is difficult to say that it is suitable for practical use.

[0004]

The object of the present invention, which has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, is to form an image with high sensitivity by exposure or heating without requiring complicated steps or expensive equipment. It is possible to obtain an image with high resolution and high sharpness regardless of the area of the image forming material, and to directly form an image based on digital data by operating an infrared laser or the like. An object is to provide a wide image forming material and an image forming method.

[0005]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of diligent studies, the present inventors have used a polymer compound having a functional group that is converted into an acidic group by exposure, heating, or irradiation with an infrared laser, and present it in an image forming material. It has been found that the above object can be achieved by causing the colorless dye precursor described above to develop color by utilizing an acidic group generated by polarity conversion, and completed the present invention. That is, the image forming material of the present invention is a polymer compound having a functional group which is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation on a support, and the polymer compound is directly attached to the end of the polymer chain. A linear polymer compound that is chemically bound to the surface of the support, or a stem polymer compound that is chemically bound to the surface of the support and the stem polymer compound at the end of the polymer chain. An image recording layer containing a polymer compound composed of a linear polymer compound having a functional group capable of generating an acid bound thereto is provided, and a colorless dye precursor is added to the image recording layer. And The image forming method of the present invention according to claim 2 is a polymer compound having a functional group which is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation on a support, and the polymer compound is a polymer chain. Is a linear polymer compound which is chemically bonded directly to the surface of the support at the terminal of the polymer, or a polymer compound which is chemically bonded to the surface of the support and a polymer of the polymer compound. An image recording layer containing a polymer compound comprising a linear polymer compound having a functional group capable of generating an acid bonded at the chain end is provided, and a colorless dye precursor is added to the image recording layer. The image forming material described above is imagewise heated or irradiated with a radiation ray to imagewise generate an acid in the image recording layer to color the colorless dye precursor. Here, it is preferable that the polymer compound having a functional group that is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation is a polymer compound that has a functional group that is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation in a side chain,
In a preferred embodiment, this polymer compound is a surface graft polymer directly bonded to a support.

The image-forming material of the present invention has a surface having a functional group capable of being converted into an acid group by heat or radiation (hereinafter referred to as an acid conversion group) depending on the polarity of the surface of the polymer compound. , A radiation irradiation region including exposure, and a heating region are selectively polar-converted to an acidic group, thereby forming an image by forming a colorless dye precursor applied to the image forming material, thereby forming an image forming material. It is possible to obtain a high-resolution image based on digital data regardless of the area of. The polymer compound having an acid conversion group used as the image recording layer of the image-forming material is bound to the support directly at its end or through the trunk polymer compound, and further, a colorless compound for forming a visible pattern. Since the dye precursor is strongly ionically adsorbed to the acid conversion group, both the image area and the non-image area exhibit high strength and abrasion resistance. As a result, even with a thin layer, high-strength image formation is possible, and since the coloring of the colorless dye precursor is performed by the acidic group generated by the polarity conversion, a developer which is a chemical is also used in combination. It is considered that an image having high sharpness and excellent sharpness can be formed without any increase. Furthermore, in the present invention, the acidic converting group has a graft chain structure with high mobility, so that the reaction rate with the colorless dye precursor is extremely fast as compared with a general acidic group, and a color is formed per unit area. The feature is that the amount of colorless dye precursor that can be generated is increased. The image-forming material used in the method of the present invention has an advantage that it is excellent in durability even if it is a thin layer because the polymer compound constituting the image-recording layer is directly chemically bonded to the support (image-receiving material). .

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The image forming method of the present invention will be described in detail below. First, in the image-forming material used in the image-forming method of the present invention, an image in which the end of the polymer chain having a functional group that converts into an acidic group is chemically bonded to the surface of the support directly or through the trunk polymer The means for creating the recording layer will be described. [Surface Graft Polymerization] The image recording layer according to the present invention is formed by a means generally called surface graft polymerization. Graft polymerization is a method of synthesizing a graft (grafting) polymer by providing an active species on the polymer compound chain, thereby further polymerizing another monomer that initiates polymerization.
Especially when a polymer compound that gives an active species forms a solid surface, it is called surface graft polymerization.

As the surface graft polymerization method for realizing the present invention, any known method described in the literature can be used. For example, New Polymer Experiments 10, edited by Japan Society of Polymer Science, published by Kyoritsu Shuppan Co., Ltd. in 1994, P135 describes a photograft polymerization method and a plasma irradiation graft polymerization method as a surface graft polymerization method. Further, the radiation irradiation graft polymerization method using γ-rays, electron beams and the like is described in Adsorption Technology Handbook, NTS Corporation, supervised by Takeuchi, published in 1999.2, p203, p695. As a specific method of the photograft polymerization method, the methods described in JP-A-10-296895 and JP-A-11-119413 can be used.

In addition to these means, a trialkoxysilyl group, an isocyanate group, an amino group may be added to the end of the polymer compound chain to form a surface graft layer in which the end of the polymer compound chain is chemically bonded directly. It can also be formed by providing a reactive functional group such as a hydroxyl group or a carboxyl group and coupling this with a functional group present on the surface of the support. Incidentally, the support surface in the present invention, the surface, the end of the polymer compound having an acid conversion group has a function of chemically bonding directly or through the trunk polymer compound, The support itself may have such surface characteristics, or an intermediate layer may be separately provided on the support and the intermediate layer may have such characteristics.

Further, as a means for preparing a surface in which the end of a polymer compound chain having an acid converting group is chemically bonded via a trunk polymer compound, a coupling reaction with a surface functional group of a support is carried out. Functional group is added to the side chain of the backbone polymer, and a graft polymer compound incorporating a polymer compound chain having a functional group whose hydrophilicity / hydrophobicity changes as a graft chain is synthesized. It can also be formed by a coupling reaction with a group.

[Functional group whose hydrophilicity / hydrophobicity changes] Next, a functional group (acidic conversion group) which is one of the characteristics of the lithographic printing plate precursor of the invention and which is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation will be described. To do. There are two types of acidic conversion groups, a functional group that changes from hydrophobic to hydrophilic and a functional group that changes from hydrophilic to hydrophobic.

(Functional group that changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity) As the functional group that changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity and is converted to an acidic group, known functional groups described in the literature can be mentioned.
Useful examples of these functional groups are disclosed in JP-A-10-28267.
Alkyl sulfonates, disulfones, sulfonimides, EP0652483, WO92
Alkoxyalkyl esters described in H. 9934, H.I. I
To, et al., Macronolecules, vol.21, pp.1477
Examples thereof include butyl ester, carboxylic acid ester protected with an acid-decomposable group described in the literature, such as silyl ester and vinyl ester.

Also, Masahiro Kadooka, "Surface" vol.133 (199
5), pp. 374 described imino sulfonate group, Masahiro Kadooka,
The β-ketone sulfonates described in Polymer preprints, Japan vol. 46 (1997), pp. 2045, and the nitrobenzyl sulfonate compound described in Akio Yamaoka and JP-A-63-257750 can also be mentioned, but these functional groups It is not limited to. Among these, particularly excellent are secondary alkyl sulfonate groups shown below and 3
Carboxylic acid ester groups and alkoxyalkyl ester groups shown below.

In the present invention, the secondary alkylsulfonic acid ester group which is particularly excellent as a functional group that changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity is represented by the following general formula (1).

[0015]

[Chemical 1]

(In the general formula (1), L represents an organic group consisting of a polyvalent non-metal atom necessary for connecting to the polymer skeleton, and R ¹ and R ² represent a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group. Further, R ¹ and R ² may form a ring together with the secondary carbon atom (CH) to which it is bonded.)

In the general formula (1), R ¹ and R ² represent a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, and R ¹ and R ² represent a secondary carbon atom to which it is bonded ( CH) may form a ring. When R ¹ and R ² represent a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, the alkyl group may be a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl group such as a methyl group, an ethyl group, an isopropyl group, a t-butyl group or a cyclohexyl group. Among them, those having 1 to 25 carbon atoms are preferably used. When R ¹ and R ² represent a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, the aryl group includes a carbocyclic aryl group and a heterocyclic aryl group. As the carbocyclic aryl group, those having 6 to 19 carbon atoms such as phenyl group, naphthyl group, anthracenyl group and pyrenyl group are used. Further, as the heterocyclic aryl group, a pyridyl group, a furyl group, or a quinolyl group condensed with a benzene ring, a benzofuryl group, a thioxanthone group, a carbazole group or the like having 3 to 20 carbon atoms and 1 to 5 hetero atoms Is used.

When R ¹ and R ² are a substituted alkyl group or a substituted aryl group, the substituent is an alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms such as methoxy group and ethoxy group, fluorine atom, chlorine atom, bromine atom, etc. 2 to 15 carbon atoms such as halogen atom, halogen-substituted alkyl group such as trifluoromethyl group and trichloromethyl group, methoxycarbonyl group, ethoxycarbonyl group, t-butyloxycarbonyl group, p-chlorophenyloxycarbonyl group
Up to alkoxycarbonyl group or aryloxycarbonyl group; hydroxyl group; acyloxy group such as acetyloxy, benzoyloxy, p-diphenylaminobenzoyloxy; carbonate group such as t-butyloxycarbonyloxy group; t-butyloxycarbonylmethyloxy group An ether group such as a 2-pyranyloxy group; a substituted or unsubstituted amino group such as an amino group, a dimethylamino group, a diphenylamino group, a morpholino group or an acetylamino group; a thioether group such as a methylthio group or a phenylthio group; a vinyl group, Alkenyl groups such as steryl groups; nitro groups; cyano groups; acyl groups such as formyl groups, acetyl groups, benzoyl groups; aryl groups such as phenyl groups and naphthyl groups; heteroaryl groups such as pyridyl groups. Can . Further, when R ¹ and R ² are substituted aryl groups, as the substituent, an alkyl group such as a methyl group or an ethyl group can be used in addition to those described above.

As R ¹ and R ² described above, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group is preferable from the viewpoint of excellent storage stability of the light-sensitive material, and an alkoxy group, a carbonyl group, or a carbonyl group, from the viewpoint of stability over time.
An alkyl group substituted with an electron-withdrawing group such as an alkoxycarbonyl group, a cyano group or a halogen group, or an alkyl group such as a cyclohexyl group or a norbornyl group is particularly preferable. As physical properties, the chemical shift of secondary methine hydrogen in proton NMR in deuterated chloroform is 4.
Compounds appearing in a magnetic field lower than 4 ppm are preferable.
Compounds that appear in a lower magnetic field than 6 ppm are more preferable.
As described above, the alkyl group substituted with an electron-withdrawing group is particularly preferable because the carbocation, which is considered to be generated as an intermediate during the thermal decomposition reaction, is destabilized by the electron-withdrawing group and the decomposition is suppressed. It is thought to be for the reason.
Specifically, as the structure of —CHR ¹ R ^2, a structure represented by the following formula is particularly preferable.

[0020]

[Chemical 2]

Further, the polyvalent linking group consisting of a non-metal atom represented by L in the general formula (1) means 1 to 60 carbon atoms, 0 to 10 nitrogen atoms, 0 It is composed of 1 to 50 oxygen atoms, 1 to 100 hydrogen atoms, and 0 to 20 sulfur atoms. Examples of more specific linking groups include those formed by combining the following structural units.

[0022]

[Chemical 3]

When the polyvalent linking group has a substituent, the substituent has an alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms such as a methyl group and an ethyl group, and a carbon number of 6 such as a phenyl group and a naphthyl group.
To 16 aryl groups, hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups,
Sulfonamide group, N-sulfonylamide group, acetoxy group such as acyloxy group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, methoxy group, ethoxy group such as alkoxy group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, halogen such as chlorine and bromine An atom, an alkoxycarbonyl group having 2 to 7 carbon atoms such as a methoxycarbonyl group, an ethoxycarbonyl group, a cyclohexyloxycarbonyl group, a cyano group, and a carbonic acid ester group such as t-butyl carbonate can be used.

In the present invention, an alkoxyalkyl ester group which is particularly excellent as a functional group that changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity is represented by the following general formula (2).

[0025]

[Chemical 4]

In the formula, R ³ represents a hydrogen atom, R ⁴ represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 18 or less carbon atoms, and R ⁵ represents an alkyl group having 18 or less carbon atoms. Two of R ³ , R ⁴ and R ⁵ may combine to form a gap. In particular, it is preferable that R ⁴ and R ⁵ combine to form a 5- or 6-membered ring.

As described above, the functional group which changes from hydrophobic to hydrophilic in the present invention is particularly preferably a secondary alkyl sulfonate group represented by the general formula (1). Functional group represented by the general formulas (1) to (2) [functional group (1)
~ (13)] Specific examples are shown below.

[0028]

[Chemical 5]

[0029]

[Chemical 6]

(Functional group changing from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity) In the present invention, the functional group changing from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity by heat or radiation is a carboxylic acid group represented by the following general formula (3) or Carboxylate groups are mentioned as suitable ones, but are not particularly limited to these examples.

[0031]

[Chemical 7]

(In the formula, X is --O--, --S--, --Se--,
^{-NR 8 -, - CO -,} - SO -, - SO 2 -, - PO
^{-, - SiR 8 R 9 -} , - CS- represents, R ^6, R ^7,
R ⁸ and R ⁹ each independently represent a monovalent group, and M represents an ion having a positive charge. ) Specific examples of R ⁶ , R ⁷ , R ⁸ and R ⁹ include -F, -Cl,
^{-Br, -I, -CN, -R 10} , -OR 10, -OCOR
¹⁰ , -OCOOR ¹⁰ , -OCONR ¹⁰ R ¹¹ , -OSO ₂
^{R 10, -COR 10, -COOR 10} , -CONR 10 R 14,
^{-NR 10 R 11, -NR 10 -COR} 11, -NR 10 -COO
^{R 11, -NR 10 -CONR 11 R} 12, -SR 10, -SOR
_{^{10, -SO 2 R 10, -SO}} 3 R 10 , and the like. R ¹⁰ ,
R ¹¹ and R ¹² each represent a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an alkenyl group, or an alkynyl group.

Of these, a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an alkynyl group or an alkenyl group is specifically preferable as R ⁶ , R ⁷ , R ⁸ and R ⁹ . Specific examples of M include the ions having a positive charge as described above. Specific examples of the functional group represented by the general formula (3) [functional groups (14) to (31)] are shown below.

[0034]

[Chemical 8]

[0035]

[Chemical 9]

The polymer compound having an acid conversion group in the present invention may be a homopolymer of one type of monomer having a functional group as described above or a copolymer of two or more types. Further, a copolymer with another monomer may be used as long as the effect of the present invention is not impaired. Specific examples of the monomer having the above functional group are shown below. (Specific Examples of Monomers Having Functional Groups Represented by General Formulas (1) and (2) [Exemplary Monomers (M-1) to (M-1)
5)])

[0037]

[Chemical 10]

[0038]

[Chemical 11]

(Specific Examples of Monomers Having Functional Groups Represented by the General Formula (3) [Exemplary Monomers (M-16) to
(M-33)])

[0040]

[Chemical 12]

[0041]

[Chemical 13]

As a functional group which can be used in the same manner as the functional group which is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation, a functional group which is converted into an acidic group by an acid can be mentioned. By using a photoacid generator in combination with a compound having a functional group that is converted to an acidic group by the acid, the photoacid generator can be heated or irradiated with a radiation such as an infrared laser without directly adding the acid. Acid is generated from the acid, an acid group is generated by the acid, and the acid generated from the photoacid generator used in combination has a function of directly acting on the colorless dye precursor to promote color development, The sensitivity improvement effect can be realized.

[Functional Group Converted to Acid Group by Acid] As a functional group whose hydrophilicity / hydrophobicity is changed by an acid, there is a functional group which is changed from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity or a functional group which is changed from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity. In the present invention, it is advantageous to utilize a functional group that synthetically changes from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Examples of the functional group that changes from hydrophobic to hydrophilic include known functional groups described in the literature. In particular
Protective Group in Organic Synthesis, TWGreene
A hydroxyl group protected by an acid-decomposable group, a phenolic hydroxyl group, an amino group, and a carboxyl group described in A Wiley-Interscience Publication (1981) can be mentioned. Particularly useful examples of these functional groups are EP06524.
83, alkoxyalkyl esters described in WO92 / 9934, H.I. Ito et al., Macronolecules, vol.21, p
Other examples include t-butyl ester described in p.1477, carboxylic acid ester protected with an acid-decomposable group described in the literature, such as silyl ester and vinyl ester. However, it is not limited to these functional groups.
Among these, particularly excellent are the tertiary carboxylic acid ester groups and the above-mentioned general formula (2) described as the alkoxyalkyl ester group which is particularly excellent as a functional group that changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity. ) Is represented. Further, as preferable specific examples of the functional group that changes from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity with an acid, among the specific examples of the functional group represented by the general formula (2), [functional group (11) -Functional group (13)] are mentioned.

(Photo-acid generator) It is preferable to use a photo-acid generator capable of generating an acid by light in combination with the image recording layer into which a functional group whose hydrophilicity / hydrophobicity is converted by the acid is introduced. As such compounds, generally known photoinitiators for photocationic polymerization, photoinitiators for photoradical polymerization, photobleaching agents for dyes, photochromic agents, known microresists and the like are used. Examples thereof include compounds that generate an acid by light and mixtures thereof, and these can be appropriately selected and used. For example, SISchlesinger, Photogr. Sci.
Eng., 18,387 (1974), TSBal et al., Polymer, 21,4
23 (1980) and the like, diazonium salts, US Pat.
069,055, 4,069,056, JP-A-3
-140,140 and other ammonium salts, DCNe
cker et al., Macromolecules, 17,2468 (1984), CSWe
n et al., Teh, Proc. Conf. Rad. Curing ASIA, p478,
Tokyo, Oct (1988), US Pat. No. 4,069,055
No. 4,069,056, JVCrivello et al., Macromolecules, 10 (6), 1307.
(1977), Chem. & Eng. News, Nov. 28, p31 (1988), European Patent 104,143, and US Patent 339,049.
No. 410,201, JP-A-2-150,848.
And iodonium salts described in JP-A-2-296,514,

JVCrivello et al., Polymer J. 17, 73
(1985), JVCrivello et al., J.Org. Chem., 43,3055.
(1978), WRWatt et al., J. Polymer Sci., Polymer C
hem. Ed., 22, 1789 (1984), JVCrivello et al., Pol
ymer Bull., 14,279 (1985), JVCrivello et al., Macr
omolecules, 14 (5), 1141 (1981), JVCrivello et a
l., J. Polymer Sci., Polymer Chem. Ed., 17,2877 (197
9), European Patent No. 370,693, and US Patent No. 3,9.
02,114, European Patent Nos. 233,567 and 29.
7,443,297,442, U.S. Pat. No. 4,9.
33,377, 410,201, 339,04
No. 9, No. 4,760, 013, No. 4, 734, 444
No. 2,833,827, German Patent No. 2,904,
No. 626, No. 3,604,580, No. 3,604,5
81, etc., sulfonium salts, JVCrivello et a
l., Macromolecules, 10 (6), 1307 (1977), JVCrivell
o et al., J. Polymer Sci., Polymer Chem. Ed., 17,10
47 (1979), selenonium salts, CSWen et al.,
Teh, Proc. Conf. Rad. Curing ASIA, p478, Tokyo, O
onium salts such as arsonium salts described in ct (1988),

US Pat. No. 3,905,815, JP-B-46-4605, JP-A-48-36281, JP-A-55-32070, JP-A-60-239736, and JP-A-61-169835. No. JP-A-61-169837
JP-A-62-58241, JP-A-62-2124
01, JP-A-63-70243, JP-A-63-29
8339 and other organic halogen compounds, K. Meier et
al., J. Rad. Curing, 13 (4), 26 (1986), TPGill et
al., Inorg. Chem., 19,3007 (1980), D.Astruc, Acc. Ch.
em. Res., 19 (12), 377 (1896), JP-A-2-16144
No. 5, etc. organic metal / organic halide,

S. Hayase et al., J. Polymer Sci., 25,75
3 (1987), E. Reichman et al., J. Polymer Sci., Poliy.
mer Chem. Ed., 23,1 (1985), QQZhu et al., J. Phot.
ochem., 36, 85, 39, 317 (1987), B. Amit et al., Tet
rahedron Lett., (24) 2205 (1973), DHRBarton et a
l., J. Chem. Soc., 3571 (1965), PMCollins et al.,
J. Chem. Soc., Perkin I, 1695 (1975), M. Rudinstein
et al., Tetrahedron Lett., (17), 1445 (1975), JWWa
lker et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110,7170 (1988), S.
C. Busman et al., J. Imaging Technol., 11 (4), (198
5), HM Houlihan et al., Macromolecules, 21, 2001 (1
988), PMCollins et al., J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commu
n., 532 (1972), S. Hayase et al., Macromolecules, 1
8,1799 (1985), E. Reichmanis et al., J. Electrochem. S
oc., Solid State Sci. Technol., 130 (6), FM Houlih
an et al., Macromolecules, 21, 2001 (1988), European Patent Nos. 0290,750, 046,083, 15
6,535, 271,851 and 0,388,3
43, US Pat. Nos. 3,901,710 and 4,18.
1,531, JP-A-60-198538, JP-A-5-1985
TUNOOKA et al., PolymerPrepr, which has a 0-nitrobenzyl type protecting group described in JP-A-3-133022, etc.
ints Japan, 35 (8), G. Berner et al., J. Rad. Curing,
13 (4), WJMijset al., Coating Technol., 55 (69
7), 45 (1983), Akzo, H. Adachi et al., Polymer Prepr
ints, Japan, 37 (3), EP 0199,672,
No. 84515, No. 199,672, No. 044,11
5, 0101,122, U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,
No. 554, No. 4,371, 605, No. 4,431, 7
74, JP-A-64-18143, JP-A-2-245.
Examples thereof include compounds which generate a sulfonic acid by photolysis, such as iminosulfonates described in JP-A No. 756 and 3-140109, and disulfone compounds described in JP-A No. 61-166544.

Further, a compound in which an acid generator is introduced into the main chain or side chain of a polymer, for example, ME Woodhouse et al., J.
Am. Chem. Soc., 104, 5586 (1982), SPPappas et a
l., J. Imaging Sci., 30 (5), 218 (1986), S. Kondo et
al., Makromol. Chem. RapidCommun., 9,625 (1988),
Y.Yamada et al., Makromol, Chem. 152, 153, 163 (197
2), JVCrivello et al., J. Polymer Sci., Polymer
Chem. Ed., 17,3845 (1979), U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,
137, German Patent No. 3914407, JP-A-63-
26653, JP-A-55-164824, JP-A-6
2-69263, JP-A-63-14603, JP-A-63-163452, JP-A-62-153853,
The compounds described in JP-A-63-146029 and the like can be used. Furthermore, VNR Pilai, Synthesis,
(1), 1 (1980), A. Abad et al., Tetrahedron Lett., (4
7) 4555 (1971), DHRBarton et al., J. Chem. Soc.,
(C), 329 (1970), U.S. Pat. No. 3,779,778,
The compounds capable of generating an acid by light described in EP 126,712 and the like can also be used. The addition amount of the photo-acid generator in the image recording layer is usually about 0.001 to 40% by weight, preferably 0.01 to 20% by weight, and 0.1 to 5% by weight based on the total solid content of the layer. Is more preferable.

[Support Surface] The image-forming material used in the image-forming method of the present invention has a surface in which the terminal of the above-mentioned polymer compound having an acid conversion group is chemically bonded directly or through a trunk polymer compound. The surface of the support is such that the graft layer and the end of the polymer compound can be chemically bonded directly or through the trunk polymer compound. As described above, the surface of the support itself may have such characteristics, and an intermediate layer having such characteristics may be provided on the surface of the support.

(Support Surface or Intermediate Layer) Such a support surface may be either an inorganic layer or an organic layer as long as it has characteristics suitable for providing the surface graft layer by graft synthesis. Good. Further, in the present invention, since the hydrophilicity / hydrophobicity is changed by the receiving pattern forming layer (image recording layer) made of a thin polymer compound, the polarity of the surface is not a problem and even if it is hydrophilic or hydrophobic. May be sex. In such an intermediate layer, in particular, when the thin layer polymer of the present invention is synthesized by a photo-graft polymerization method, a plasma irradiation graft polymerization method, or a radiation irradiation graft polymerization method, a layer having an organic surface is preferable. Particularly preferably, it is a layer of an organic polymer. As the organic polymer, epoxy resin, acrylic resin, urethane resin, phenol resin, styrene resin, vinyl resin,
Synthetic resins such as polyester resins, polyamide resins, melamine resins, formalin resins, and natural resins such as gelatin, casein, cellulose, and starch can be used, but photograft polymerization method, plasma irradiation graft polymerization method In the radiation irradiation graft polymerization method, the initiation of the graft polymerization proceeds from the abstraction of hydrogen from the organic polymer, so that the polymer from which hydrogen is easily abstracted,
In particular, it is preferable to use an acrylic resin, a urethane resin, a styrene resin, a vinyl resin, a polyester resin, a polyamide resin, an epoxy resin, or the like from the viewpoint of production suitability. Such an intermediate layer is a substrate (support) described later.
Also, it may be an intermediate layer provided on the support, if necessary.

Further, in the image-forming material according to the present invention, from the viewpoint of the formability of the image-recording layer and the adhesion to the image-recording layer, the surface of the polymer compound is directly bonded as a support. It is also possible to use those having a roughened surface. When a roughened support is used, its surface properties preferably satisfy the following conditions. As a preferred state of the roughened support, the center line average roughness (Ra) of the two-dimensional roughness parameter is 0.1 to 0.1.
1 μm, maximum height (Ry) is 1 to 10 μm, ten-point average roughness (Rz) is 1 to 10 μm, average interval of irregularities (Sm) is 5 to 80 μm, average interval of local peaks (S) is 5 to 80 μm.
m, maximum height (Rt) is 1 to 10 μm, center line peak height (Rp) is 1 to 10 μm, center line valley depth (Rv) is 1
The range is 10 μm, and one satisfying one or more of these conditions is preferable, and it is more preferable that all of them are satisfied.

The above two-dimensional roughness parameter is based on the following definition. Centerline average roughness (Ra): A value obtained by extracting a portion of the measurement length L from the roughness curve in the direction of the centerline and arithmetically averaging the absolute values of the deviations between the extracted centerline and the roughness curve. Maximum height (Ry): A value obtained by extracting a reference length from the roughness curve in the direction of the average line, and measuring the distance between the peak line and the valley bottom line of this extracted portion in the direction of the longitudinal magnification of the roughness curve. Ten-point average roughness (Rz): A reference length was extracted from the roughness curve in the direction of the average value, and the average line of the extracted portion was measured in the direction of longitudinal magnification. The value of the sum of the average absolute value of the altitude (YP) and the average absolute value of the altitude (Yv) of the 5th to the lowest valley bottoms expressed in micrometers (μm). Average interval of unevenness (Sm): A reference length is extracted from the roughness curve in the direction of the average line, and the sum of the average lines corresponding to one peak and one valley adjacent to that peak is obtained in this extracted portion. A value that represents the arithmetic mean value of the intervals of the irregularities in micrometer (μm).

Average distance (S) between local peaks: A reference length is extracted from the roughness curve in the direction of the average line, and the length of the average line corresponding to the distance between adjacent local peaks in this extracted portion is calculated. A value that represents the arithmetic mean value of the distance between local peaks in micrometer (μm). Maximum height (Rt): A value of the interval between two straight lines when the extracted portion is sandwiched by two straight lines parallel to the center line of the portion extracted from the roughness curve by the reference length. Center line height (Rp): The value of the distance from the roughness curve to the straight line passing through the highest peak parallel to the center line of the extracted portion by extracting the measurement length L in the direction of the center line. Centerline valley depth (Rv): A value of a distance from a roughness curve to a straight line passing through the deepest valley bottom in parallel with the centerline of the extracted portion by extracting a portion having a measurement length L in the direction of the centerline.

(Photothermal conversion substance) When an image is recorded on the image forming material of the present invention by an IR laser or the like, a photothermal conversion substance for converting the light energy into heat energy is placed somewhere in the image forming material. It is preferable to contain it. The portion containing the photothermal conversion substance may be, for example, any of the receiving pattern forming layer (image recording layer), the intermediate layer and the support substrate, and further, the photothermal conversion material may be present between the intermediate layer and the support substrate. A converter layer may be provided and added to it.

As the photothermal conversion substance which can be used in the image forming material of the present invention, any substance capable of absorbing light such as ultraviolet rays, visible rays, infrared rays and white rays and converting it into heat can be used. For example, carbon black. , Carbon graphite, pigments, phthalocyanine pigments, iron powder, graphite powder, iron oxide powder, lead oxide, silver oxide, chromium oxide, iron sulfide, chromium sulfide and the like. Particularly preferred in the present invention are dyes, pigments or metal fine particles having a maximum absorption wavelength from 760 nm to 1200 nm which is an exposure wavelength of an infrared laser used for writing.

As the dye, commercially available dyes and known dyes described in the literature (for example, "Handbook of Dyes" edited by the Society of Organic Synthetic Chemistry, published in 1970) can be used. Specific examples include dyes such as azo dyes, metal complex azo dyes, pyrazolone azo dyes, anthraquinone dyes, phthalocyanine dyes, carbonium dyes, quinoneimine dyes, methine dyes, cyanine dyes, and metal thiolate complexes. Preferred dyes include, for example, JP-A-58-125246.
JP-A-59-84356 and JP-A-59-2028.
29, JP-A-60-78787, and other cyanine dyes, JP-A-58-173696, and JP-A-5-173966.
8-181690, methine dyes described in JP-A-58-194595, and JP-A-58-112793.
JP-A-58-224793, JP-A-59-481
87, JP-A-59-73996, JP-A-60-52.
940, naphthoquinone dyes described in JP-A-60-63744 and the like, squarylium dyes described in JP-A-58-112792 and the like, British Patent 434.
Examples thereof include cyanine dyes described in No. 875.

The near-infrared absorption sensitizer described in US Pat. No. 5,156,938 is also preferably used, and the substituted arylbenzo (thio) pyrylium salt described in US Pat. No. 3,881,924 is also used. Trimethine thiapyrylium salts described in JP-A-57-142645 (US Pat. No. 4,327,169), JP-A-58-181051, and JP-A-58-181051.
8-220143, 59-41363, 59-
84248, 59-84249, 59-146.
Nos. 063 and 59-146061, pyranium compounds described in JP-A-59-216146, pentamethinethiopyrylium salts described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,475, and the like. Fair 5-135
Pyrylium compounds disclosed in JP-A-14 and JP-A-5-19702 are also preferably used. Further, examples of other preferable dyes include near-infrared absorbing dyes described as formulas (I) and (II) in US Pat. No. 4,756,993. Of these dyes, particularly preferred are cyanine dyes, squarylium dyes, pyrylium salts, and nickel thiolate complexes.

The pigment used in the present invention includes
Commercial pigment and color index (CI) handbook,
"Latest Pigment Handbook" (edited by Japan Pigment Technology Association, 1977), "Latest Pigment Application Technology" (CMC Publishing, 1986), "Printing Ink Technology" CMC Publishing, 1984)
The pigments described in 1. can be used. The types of pigments include black pigments, yellow pigments, orange pigments, brown pigments,
Red pigment, purple pigment, blue pigment, green pigment, fluorescent pigment,
Examples include metal powder pigments and polymer-bonded dyes.
Specifically, insoluble azo pigments, azo lake pigments, condensed azo pigments, chelate azo pigments, phthalocyanine pigments, anthraquinone pigments, perylene and perinone pigments, thioindigo pigments, quinacridone pigments, dioxazine pigments, isoindolinone pigments. , Quinophthalone pigments, dyed lake pigments, azine pigments, nitroso pigments, nitro pigments, natural pigments, fluorescent pigments, inorganic pigments, carbon black and the like can be used. Preferred among these pigments is carbon black.

These dyes or pigments are added in an amount of 0.01 to 50% by weight, preferably 0.1% by weight based on the total solids of the layer containing the photothermal conversion substance.
1 to 10% by weight, particularly preferably 0.5 to 1 in the case of dye
It can be used in an amount of 0% by weight, particularly preferably 3.1 to 10% by weight in the case of a pigment. If the amount of the pigment or dye added is less than 0.01% by weight, the sensitivity will be low, and if it exceeds 50% by weight, the film strength of the photothermal conversion substance-containing layer will be weak.

(Support Substrate) The support (substrate) used in the image forming material according to the present invention and having the surface of the support having the above characteristics on its surface is a dimensionally stable plate-like material. Are preferred, for example, paper, paper laminated with plastic (eg, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, etc.), metal plate (eg, aluminum, zinc, copper, etc.), plastic film (eg, cellulose diacetate, cellulose triacetate, Cellulose propionate, Cellulose butyrate, Cellulose acetate butyrate, Cellulose nitrate, Polyethylene terephthalate, Polyethylene, Polystyrene, Polypropylene, Polycarbonate, Polyvinyl acetal, etc.), paper or plastic film laminated or vapor-deposited with the above metals, glass, ceramics, etc. Inorganic substrate and the like are included. Of these, polyester film, cellulose triacetate film and aluminum plate are preferable. When the method of the present invention is applied to the production of a TFT, an insulating substrate is used as the support substrate, and a glass substrate is generally used. Since it can express a high adhesiveness, a resin substrate can also be suitably used as long as it satisfies dimensional stability, for example, a polyester film and a cellulose triacetate film which can also serve as the intermediate layer are particularly preferable. Preferred examples include:

When an aluminum plate is used as the substrate, known surface treatments such as surface roughening treatment and anodizing treatment may be carried out, if necessary. Further, when a plastic film such as a polyester film which is another preferred embodiment is used, a surface-roughened film may be used from the viewpoint of the hydrophilic surface forming property and the adhesiveness.

When the support used in the image forming material according to the present invention also serves as the intermediate layer, the film itself made of the resin material described in detail for the intermediate layer can be used. As described above, it is preferable that the surface of the support to which the polymer compound constituting the image recording layer is directly chemically bonded is roughened.

[Image Forming Method] Next, an image forming method of the present invention using the image forming material will be described. In the image forming mechanism of the image forming material, the acid converting group of the polymer compound contained in the image recording layer is heated or polar-converts in a radiation irradiation region to generate an acid group. In this polarity conversion, when an acidic group is generated due to the formation of a hydrophilic region or a hydrophobic region, or when an acid generated from a photoacid generator used in combination with a polymer compound having a functional group whose polarity is converted by an acid is generated, When they are present, these oxidize the colorless dye precursor to form a color, which becomes the image area.
Further, in the non-heated area or the radiation non-irradiated area, the image recording layer remains in the surface state as it is, and the colorless dye precursor present therein does not develop color and becomes a non-image area.

(Writing) Writing of an image-like pattern in the image forming method of the present invention is performed by irradiation with radiation such as light or heating. Further, as one aspect of light irradiation, in the case of a type that uses the photothermal conversion material in combination, by heating by scanning exposure with laser light in the infrared region,
It is also possible to form a pattern. Examples of the method used for pattern formation include a method of writing by radiation of radiation such as heating and exposure. For example, light irradiation with an infrared laser, an ultraviolet lamp, visible light, etc., electron beam irradiation with γ-rays, thermal recording with a thermal head, etc. are possible. Examples of these light sources include mercury lamps, metal halide lamps, xenon lamps, chemical lamps and carbon arc lamps. As radiation,
There are electron beams, X-rays, ion beams, far infrared rays and the like. Further, a high-density energy beam (laser beam) or the like is also used. Specific examples that are generally used include direct imagewise recording with a thermal recording head or the like, scanning exposure with an infrared laser, high-intensity flash exposure with a xenon discharge lamp or infrared lamp exposure.
In order to form a direct pattern by computer digital data, a method of causing polarity conversion by laser exposure is preferable. As the laser, carbon dioxide laser, nitrogen laser, Ar laser, He / Ne laser, H
Gas laser such as e / Cd laser and Kr laser, liquid (dye) laser, solid laser such as ruby laser, Nd / YAG laser, semiconductor laser such as GaAs / GaAlAs and InGaAs laser, KrF laser, XeCl laser,
An XeF laser, an excimer laser such as Ar ₂ or the like can be used. Of these, exposure with a solid-state high-power infrared laser such as a semiconductor laser or a YAG laser that emits infrared rays having a wavelength of 700 to 1200 nm is preferable.

(Colorless Dye Precursor) Next, the colorless dye precursor applied to the image recording layer will be described. The colorless dye precursor that can be used in the present invention is preferably one that develops color under oxidizing conditions, and for example, a redox indicator that is known as a compound that develops under acidic conditions can be used. Various oxidative coloring dyes can be used. In addition, diphenylamine-based and triphenylamine-based leuco compounds that develop color under oxidizing conditions can be preferably used. In the method of the present invention, the colorless dye precursor may be a triarylmethane compound, a diphenylmethane compound, a triphenylmethane compound, a thiazine compound, a diphenylamine compound, a triphenylamine compound, a xanthene compound, a spiropyran compound, or the like. A leuco body such as a system that develops a color under oxidizing conditions can be preferably used. Particularly, triarylmethane compounds and xanthene compounds are useful because of their high color density.

Specific examples of these include 3,3-bis (p-dimethylaminophenyl) -6dimethylaminophthalide (that is, crystal violet lactone), 3,
3-bis (p-dimethylamino) phthalide, 3- (p-
Dimethylaminophenyl) -3- (1,3-dimethylindol-3-yl) phthalide, 3- (p-dimethylaminophenyl) -3- (2-methylindol-3-yl) phthalide, 3- (o- Methyl-p-dimethylaminophenyl) -3- (2-methylindol-3-yl)
Phthalide, 4,4'-bis (dimethylamino) benzhydrin benzyl ether, N-halophenylleuco auramine, N-2,4,5-trichlorophenyl leuco auramine, rhodamine-B-anilinolactam, rhodamine ( p-nitroanilino) lactam, rhodamine-B
-(P-chloroanilino) lactam, 2-benzylamino-6-diethylaminofluorane, 2-anilino-6
-Diethylaminofluorane, 2-anilino-3-methyl-6-diethylaminofluorane, 2-anilino-3
-Methyl-6-cyclohexylmethylaminofluorane, 2-anilino-3-methyl-6-isoamylethylaminofluorane, 2- (o-chloroanilino) -6-
Diethylaminofluorane, 2-octylamino-6-
Diethylaminofluorane, 2-ethoxyethylamino-3-chloro-2-diethylaminofluorane, 2-anilino-3-chloro-6-diethylaminofluorane,
Benzoyl leuco methylene blue, p-nitrobenzyl leuco methylene blue, 3-methyl-spiro-dinaphthopyran, 3-ethyl-spiro-dinaphthopyran, 3,
3'-dichloro-spiro-dinaphthopyran, 3-benzylpyrodinaphthopyran, 3-propyl-spiro-dibenzopyran and the like can be mentioned.

The hues of compounds and their oxidants (the hues are shown in parentheses) which can be preferably used in the method of the present invention are shown below, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, ethyl night blue (blue), methyl capryl blue (blue), toluene blue (purple), diphenylamine (purple), N-methyldiphenylamine-P-
Sulfonic acid (magenta), phenylanthranilic acid (magenta), 3,3'-dimethylnaphthidine (magenta), 3,
3'-Dimethylnaphthidine disulfonic acid (purple red), 2,
6-dichlorophenol indophenol (peach), triphenylmethane type leucomalachite green (green) and the like can be mentioned. These colorless dye precursors may be used alone or in combination of two or more depending on the purpose of obtaining a desired hue or color density.

The method of applying the colorless dye precursor to the surface of the image-forming material is not particularly limited, and for example, a method of coating a coating solution in which the colorless dye precursor is dissolved in a low boiling point solvent on the surface of the image recording layer, or When providing the image recording layer,
Examples thereof include a method of incorporating these colorless dye precursors in the layer.

The image formed by the method of the present invention can be used not only as a display, but also, for example, the formed image can be transferred and fixed onto an image receiving material such as plain paper by a conventional method. By performing the transfer step to the image receiving material in this way, by repeating the steps of exposure, color development, and transfer to transfer images of different colors onto one image receiving material, a multicolor image is formed on the image receiving material. It can also be formed.

In the image forming material according to the present invention, when a transparent film such as PET is used for the support, the formed dye image is a light transmission type display or OHP.
It can also be used for other purposes and has a wide range of applications.

[0071]

[Example 1]

(Preparation of Image-Forming Material) A 188 μm corona-treated polyethylene terephthalate film (A4100, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.) was used as a support, and a lithographic magnetron packing device (CFS-10-EP70 manufactured by Toshiba Eletech) was used for glow processing. It was used and was subjected to argon glow treatment under the following conditions. (Argon glow treatment) Initial vacuum: 1.2 × 10 ⁻³ Pa Argon pressure: 0.9 Pa RF glow: 1.5 kW Treatment time: 60 sec Next, the glow-treated film was nitrogen bubbled with 2-ethoxyethyl acrylate (A-EE). (Manufactured by Nakamura Chemical Co., Ltd.) in a solution of methyl ethyl ketone (10%) at 50 ° C. for 7 hours for surface grafting. Next, the obtained film was immersed in acetone for 8 hours to remove ungrafted polymer to form an image recording layer having 2-ethoxyethyl acrylate graft-polymerized on its surface. Furthermore, as a photo-generator, 1,6-bistrichloromethyl-4- (p- (N, N-di (ethoxycarbonylmethyl) amino) phenyl) -triazine
An image forming material having an image recording layer was prepared by immersing in a 0 wt% methyl ethyl ketone solution for 5 minutes.

A 1: 1 solution of ethyl night blue in ethanol / water was applied as a colorless dye precursor onto the substrate obtained as described above. After that, the emission wavelength is 400 nm
Using an InGaN semiconductor laser, the beam diameter on the substrate surface is 40 μm, the exposure energy density is 0.2 mJ / c.
Imagewise exposure was performed under the condition of m ² . Ethyl night blue was oxidized and developed only in the exposed area, and a blue image was formed.

Example 2 A corona-treated polyimide (pyromellitic dianhydride / m-phenylenediamine copolymer) film having a thickness of 200 μm was used as a support, and the following composition was applied to the surface of the film. Applied and dried at 100 ° C for 1 minute to give a film thickness of 1.6 μm
An intermediate layer containing the infrared absorber of was prepared.

[0074] (Interlayer coating liquid)   ・ Epoxy resin (Epicoat, Yuka-shell Co, Ltd.) 2 g   ・ Infrared absorber (IR125 Wako Pure Chemicals) 0.2g   ・ 1-Methoxy-2-propanol 9 g   ・ Methyl ethyl ketone 9 g

The surface of the support having the intermediate layer formed thereon was subjected to plasma treatment under the following conditions to form an image recording layer by surface graft polymerization. Using an LCVD-01 type plasma treatment apparatus manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation, the treatment was performed for 10 seconds under an argon gas atmosphere of 0.04 toor, followed by exposure to air to introduce a peroxide group on the surface of the intermediate layer. This film was immersed in a 10 wt% aqueous solution of α (styrene-4-sulfonyl) acetic acid Na salt, and 1
After bubbling argon gas for 5 minutes, graft polymerization was performed by heating at 60 ° C. for 7 hours. After the graft polymerization, the membrane was immersed in 3000 ml of ion-exchanged water, and homopolymers other than the graft polymerization were removed to obtain a substrate having an image recording layer grafted on the surface by plasma treatment.

A colorless dye precursor was applied to the substrate obtained as described above in the same manner as in Example 1 to give a wavelength of 830 n.
Infrared laser emitting m infrared light (beam diameter 45 μm)
The image was exposed at. Ethyl night blue was oxidized and developed only in the exposed area, and a blue image was formed.

Example 3 An image forming material having an image recording layer exactly the same as that used in Example 1 was used, and a colorless dye precursor was applied in the same manner. This substrate is prepared, a baking film having a linear parallel pattern with a width of 50 μm at intervals of 50 μm, and a flat transparent quartz glass are stacked on the substrate, and exposed from a position of 30 cm with a 200 watt high pressure mercury lamp for 30 seconds. did. Ethyl night blue was oxidized and developed only in the exposed area, and a blue image was formed.

[0078]

According to the image forming material of the present invention, it is possible to form an image with high sensitivity by exposure or heating without requiring complicated steps and expensive equipment. According to the image forming method using this, regardless of the area of the image forming material,
An image with high resolution and high sharpness can be obtained, and an image can be directly formed on the basis of digital data by operating an infrared laser or the like, and a wide range of applications are expected.

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H025 AA02 AB09 AC08 AD03 BE00                       CC14 DA35                 2H026 AA24 AA28 BB01                 2H111 HA14 HA18 HA22 HA23 HA24                       HA35

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A polymer compound having a functional group on a support, which is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation, comprising:
The polymer compound is a linear polymer compound which is chemically bonded directly to the surface of the support at the end of the polymer chain, or a trunk polymer compound which is chemically bonded to the surface of the support. An image recording layer containing a polymer compound consisting of a linear polymer compound having an acid-generating functional group bonded at the end of the polymer chain to the trunk polymer compound is provided, and the image recording layer is provided. An image forming material provided with a colorless dye precursor. 2. A polymer compound having a functional group on a support, which is converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation, comprising:
The polymer compound is a linear polymer compound which is chemically bonded directly to the surface of the support at the end of the polymer chain, or a trunk polymer compound which is chemically bonded to the surface of the support. An image recording layer containing a polymer compound consisting of a linear polymer compound having an acid-generating functional group bonded at the end of the polymer chain to the trunk polymer compound is provided, and the image recording layer is provided. An image-forming material provided with a colorless dye precursor is imagewise heated or irradiated with radiant rays to generate an imagewise acid in the image recording layer to color the colorless dye precursor. A characteristic image forming method. 3. The polymer compound having a functional group capable of being converted into an acidic group by heat or radiation is a polymer compound having a side chain having a functional group capable of generating an acid by heat or radiation. The image forming method according to claim 2.