JP2007169518A - Method for producing polyester, resin particle dispersion, method for producing the same, electrostatic charge image developing toner, method for producing the same, electrostatic charge image developer and image formation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a polyester having high transparency; to obtain a resin particle dispersion using the polyester produced by the production method; to obtain an electrostatic charge image developing toner having high image quality and excellent hue preservability by using the resin particle dispersion; to provide a method for producing the same; to obtain an electrostatic charge image developer; and to provide a image formation method using the same. <P>SOLUTION: The method for producing a polyester comprises a process for using at least a basic compound, a Bronsted acid compound or a Bronsted acid compound salt and polycondensing a polycondensable monomer to give a polyester. The resin particle dispersion is obtained by using the polyester obtained by the production method. The method for producing the resin particle dispersion is provided. The electrostatic charge image developing ground toner is obtained. The electrostatic charge image developing toner is obtained. The method for producing the electrostatic charge image developing toner is provided. The electrostatic charge image developer is obtained. The image formation method is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrostatic charge developing toner used for developing an electrostatic latent image formed by an electrophotographic method or an electrostatic recording method with a developer, and raw materials thereof. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a resin particle dispersion for an electrostatic charge developing toner used for producing an electrostatic charge developing toner. The present invention also relates to an electrostatic charge image developer using the electrostatic charge image developing toner and an image forming method.

  A method of visualizing image information through an electrostatic charge image such as electrophotography is currently used in various fields. In the electrophotographic method, an electrostatic image is formed on the photoreceptor by charging and exposure processes, the electrostatic latent image is developed with a developer containing toner, and visualized through transfer and fixing process steps. The developer used here includes a two-component developer composed of a toner and a carrier, and a one-component developer using a magnetic toner or a non-magnetic toner alone. The toner is usually produced by using a thermoplastic resin as a pigment. In addition, a kneading and pulverizing method is used in which melt-kneading is performed together with a releasing agent such as a charge control agent and wax, cooling, pulverization, and classification. In these toners, if necessary, inorganic and organic particles for improving fluidity and cleaning properties may be added to the toner particle surfaces.

  In recent years, copying machines and printers using color electrophotography, and multi-function machines such as those and facsimiles, etc., have been widely used, but in order to achieve moderate gloss in color image reproduction and transparency to obtain an excellent OHP image In general, it is difficult to use a release agent such as wax. For this reason, a large amount of oil is applied to the fixing roll to assist in peeling, so that it is difficult to add a copy image containing OHP, and it is difficult to add to the image with a pen or the like, and non-uniform glossiness is generated. There are also many. In normal black-and-white copying, commonly used waxes such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and paraffin are more difficult to use because they impair OHP transparency.

Even if the transparency is sacrificed, it is difficult to suppress the toner exposure to the surface in the conventional toner production method by the kneading and pulverization method. In addition, problems such as filming on a developing machine and a photosensitive member are caused.
As a fundamental improvement method for these problems, an oil phase composed of a monomer and a colorant as a resin raw material is dispersed in an aqueous phase and directly polymerized into a toner. There has been proposed a production method by a polymerization method in which the exposure to the surface is controlled by inclusion.

In addition, Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose a toner manufacturing method using an emulsion polymerization aggregation method as means for enabling intentional control of the toner shape and surface structure. These are generally prepared by preparing a resin dispersion by emulsion polymerization or the like, while preparing a colorant dispersion in which a colorant is dispersed in a solvent, mixing them, forming an aggregate corresponding to the toner particle size, and heating. This is a manufacturing method for fusing and uniting toner.
These manufacturing methods not only realize the inclusion of the wax, but also facilitate the reduction of the toner diameter, and enable higher resolution and clearer image reproduction.

  In order to provide high-quality images in the electrophotographic process as described above and maintain stable performance of the toner under various mechanical stresses, pigment, release agent selection, amount optimization, surface application In addition to suppressing the exposure of the mold release agent, it is extremely important to improve the mold release and suppress hot offset in the absence of gloss and fixing oil by optimizing the resin characteristics.

  On the other hand, in order to reduce energy consumption, a technology capable of fixing at a lower temperature is desired. Particularly in recent years, in order to save energy, it is desirable to stop energization of the fixing machine except during use. ing. Accordingly, the temperature of the fixing device needs to be energized and instantaneously raised to the operating temperature. For this purpose, it is desirable to make the heat capacity of the fixing machine as small as possible. In this case, however, the temperature fluctuation of the fixing machine tends to be larger than before. That is, the overshoot of the temperature after the start of energization increases, and on the other hand, the temperature drop due to paper passing also increases. In addition, when paper having a width smaller than the width of the fixing device is continuously passed, the temperature difference between the paper passing portion and the non-paper passing portion also increases. In particular, when used in high-speed copying machines and printers, the power supply capacity tends to be insufficient, and there is a strong tendency to cause the above phenomenon. Accordingly, there is a strong demand for an electrophotographic toner having a wide fixing latitude that can be fixed at a low temperature and does not cause an offset to a higher temperature region.

  As a means for lowering the fixing temperature of the toner, it is known to use a polycondensation type crystalline resin showing a sharp melting behavior with respect to the temperature as the binder resin constituting the toner. In many cases, the melt kneading and pulverization method is difficult to pulverize and generally cannot be used.

  The polycondensation for producing the polycondensation resin requires a reaction for 10 hours or more under high temperature stirring at a high temperature exceeding 200 ° C. and under a high vacuum, resulting in a large amount of energy consumption. For this reason, enormous capital investment is often required to obtain durability of the reaction equipment. Further, since a tin-based catalyst such as dibutyltin oxide is used, there is a drawback that the polymer is colored. In order to avoid this, in Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4, studies have been made to mix an alkaline compound into a titanium catalyst to cause coloring, but it is necessary to perform polycondensation at a high temperature of 180 ° C. or higher to make a resin. There is.

  Furthermore, as an attempt to prevent coloring, Patent Document 5 discloses a method of adding a phosphorus compound after polymerizing a polyester using a titanium compound as a catalyst. However, it is not only technically difficult to effectively add the additive to the polymer after polymerization, but also the cost is increased and it is not put into practical use. In Patent Document 6, after an ester exchange reaction with an alkaline earth metal, an attempt is made to lose the activity of the catalyst with a phosphorus compound and further polymerize with a titanium compound, but the reduction in coloring is insufficient. Furthermore, high temperatures are required for polycondensation of titanium compounds. Further, in Patent Document 7, a polyester using a protonic acid such as phosphonic acid and sulfuric acid as a catalyst has been studied. However, the obtained polyester exhibits light yellow and brown colors.

In addition, when preparing a toner by the emulsion polymerization aggregation method as described above, after polymerizing a polycondensation type crystalline resin, it is emulsified in water and agglomerated with a pigment or wax in a latex state, and then fused. Can unite.
However, when emulsifying the polycondensation resin, the emulsification is carried out by high shear under high heat exceeding 150 ° C., or the solvent is dissolved in water and dispersed in water, and then the solvent is removed. An efficient and energy consuming process is required.
In addition, it is difficult to avoid problems such as hydrolysis during emulsification in water, and indeterminate factors are inevitable in material design.
As a means for avoiding this problem, in Patent Document 8, polycondensation is realized at a low temperature of 100 ° C. using a basic catalyst, but the monomer is limited to a cyclic acid anhydride and the degree of freedom of material is low. Not realized.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-282275 JP-A-6-250439 JP 2001-114879 A JP 2002-146002 A JP-A-10-259296 JP 2004-250812 A JP 2001-81168 A JP-A-10-95836

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing highly transparent polyester and a resin particle dispersion using the polyester produced by the production method.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrostatic image developing toner having high image quality and excellent hue preservation, a method for producing the same, an electrostatic image developer, and an image using these. It is to provide a forming method.

The above problems have been solved by means <1> to <7> shown below.
<1> A method for producing a polyester comprising a step of obtaining a polyester by polycondensation of a polycondensable monomer using at least a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound,
<2> At least a Bronsted acid compound and a basic compound are used in a molar ratio of 1: 0.1 to 1: 2, or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound is used and a polycondensable monomer is polycondensed. And a method for producing polyester, comprising a step of obtaining polyester
<3> A resin particle dispersion in which resin particles containing at least polyester are dispersed in a dispersion medium, wherein the polyester contains the polyester produced by the production method according to the above <1> or <2>. Dispersion,
<4> A method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner comprising: a step of aggregating the resin particles in a dispersion containing at least a resin particle dispersion to obtain aggregated particles; and a step of heating and aggregating the aggregated particles. A method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner, wherein the resin particle dispersion is the resin particle dispersion according to the above <2>.
<5> An electrostatic charge image developing toner produced by the production method according to <3> above,
<6> An electrostatic charge image developer comprising the electrostatic charge image developing toner according to <4> and a carrier,
<7> A latent image forming step of forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member, and developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member with a developer containing toner to form a toner image. An image forming method comprising: a developing step, a transferring step of transferring a toner image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member to the surface of the transfer target, and a fixing step of thermally fixing the toner image transferred to the surface of the transfer target An image forming method using the electrostatic image developing toner according to <4> as the toner or the electrostatic image developer according to <5> as the developer.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the manufacturing method of highly transparent polyester and the resin particle dispersion using the polyester manufactured by the said manufacturing method can be provided.
In addition, according to the present invention, an electrostatic charge image developing toner having high image quality and excellent hue preservation, a method for producing the same, an electrostatic charge image developer, and an image forming method using the same are used according to the present invention. Can be provided.

The present invention relates to an application of a polyester polycondensed with a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound to an electrostatic image developing toner.
As a result of studying the polycondensation of polyester using a conventional basic compound and its application to a toner resin, the present inventors have found that the toner resin has charging resistance, resin hydrolysis characteristics, environment resistance, fixing temperature, etc. The heat resistance characteristics of the resin are insufficient, and these have led to the extraction of major problems in practical use as a toner, such as deterioration of charging characteristics and image strength deterioration under the use environment.
As a result of extensive research, it has been found that the lower the haze property (turbidity) of the polymer solution, the greater the environmental dependency such as hydrolysis and the heat resistance property in the temperature range.
In this case, the chemical mechanism has not been fully elucidated, but the haze characteristics of this resin differ greatly in environmental stability and heat stability when used in the final toner. It is inferred that the color may be derived from an object.
The present invention will be described in detail below.

(Production method of polyester)
The method for producing a polyester of the present invention includes a step of obtaining a polyester by polycondensation of a polycondensable monomer using at least a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound (hereinafter, “ It is also called "polycondensation step").
Further, the polyester production method of the present invention uses at least a Bronsted acid compound and a basic compound in a molar ratio of 1: 0.1 to 1: 2 or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound, It is particularly preferable to include a step of obtaining a polyester by polycondensation of a condensable monomer.
The polyester of the present invention is a polyester produced by the production method. The polyester of the present invention can be suitably used as a binder resin for electrostatic image developing toner.

  The polyester obtained by the method for producing a polyester of the present invention has a haze characteristic value (also simply referred to as “haze”, “haze value”, or “haze (characteristic value)”) measured according to JIS K7105 of 10%. Is preferably 5% or less, and more preferably 3% or less. When the haze characteristic value is less than 10%, the environment resistance and resin heat resistance as a toner resin are sufficient, and the charging characteristics of the toner are deteriorated, the resin is decomposed at the toner fixing temperature, the image quality is uneven, and the image quality is lowered. This is preferable because problems such as the above are unlikely to occur. Further, when this toner is used as a full color toner, it is preferable because it is excellent in image quality characteristics such as a color gamut and color reproducibility of a fixed image.

  The method for producing the polyester of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the polycondensable monomer is polycondensed using at least a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound, or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound. From the viewpoint of energy, water polycondensation in which a polycondensable monomer or a polycondensation catalyst is emulsified to perform polycondensation is preferable. When bulk polymerization is performed, enormous energy is required to emulsify the polyester in a later step. With this method, an emulsion can be obtained without requiring a large amount of energy in an aqueous medium, and polymerization at a low temperature is possible, so that a side reaction product is hardly generated. In this case, it is advantageous to carry out in an aqueous medium, but the chemical mechanism is not sufficiently elucidated, and in the case of polycondensation in water, unlike the bulk in which the catalyst is always mixed in the reaction monomer, Since the catalyst enters and exits the interface between the particles and the aqueous medium at a low temperature, polycondensation occurs at the interface only when necessary, so that side reactions are difficult to occur, and the side reactants enter the aqueous medium. It is possible to elute.

(Polycondensation catalyst (basic compound and Bronsted acid compound, or salt of Bronsted acid compound))
The basic compound and Bronsted acid compound or the salt of Bronsted acid compound in the present invention acts as a polycondensation catalyst in the polycondensation step. A polycondensation catalyst may be used individually by 1 type, or may be used in combination of 2 or more type.
In the present invention, as the polycondensation catalyst, at least a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound are used in combination, or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound is used.
In the present invention, as the polycondensation catalyst, it is particularly preferable to use at least a Bronsted acid compound and a basic compound in a molar ratio of 1: 0.1 to 1: 2, or use a Bronsted acid compound salt. preferable.

Examples of the basic compound that can be used in the present invention include organic basic compounds, nitrogen-containing basic compounds, alkali metal compounds, and alkaline earth metal compounds.
Examples of the organic basic compound include tetramethylammonium hydroxide, tetraethylammonium hydroxide, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, alkyl such as tetraphenylammonium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxides having an aryl group, the ammonium and the pKa value. And salts with weak acids greater than 4.

Examples of the nitrogen-containing basic compound include NR ₃ such as triethylamine, tributylamine, trioctylamine, tripropylamine, triphenylamine, dibenzylmethylamine (R is independently methyl, ethyl, phenyl, benzyl, toluyl, etc. A tertiary amine represented by NHR ₂ and NH ₂ R (where R is the same as above), a secondary amine and a primary amine represented by C 1-25 alkyl, aryl group, etc .; Examples include pyridine, methylpyridine, methoxypyridine, quinoline, and imidazole. Furthermore, mention may be made of tetraalkyl or arylphosphonium hydroxides such as tetrabutylphosphonium hydroxide.
Nitrogen-containing basic compounds include amines such as ethylamine, methylamine, propylamine, butylamine, benzylamine, dibenzylamine, and phenylamine, acetylpyridine, acetoxypyridine, cyano, in addition to the specific examples listed above. Pyridine, dimethylpyridine, ethylpyridine, propylpyridine, cetylpyridine, aminopyridine, nitropyridine, phenylpyridine, benzoylpyridine, benzylpyridine, tetrahydropyridine, hydroxypyridine, halogenated pyridine, or their salt compounds, collidine, lutidine, Further, 1,8-diazabicyclo [5.4.0] -7-undecene (DBU) can be preferably exemplified.

  Examples of the alkali or alkaline earth metal compounds include inorganic compounds such as alkali metals such as sodium, potassium, lithium and cesium, and alkaline earth metals such as calcium, magnesium and barium, hydrides and amides. Can be mentioned. In addition, salts of the above alkali, alkaline earth metal and acid, for example, carbonate, phosphate, borate and the like can be mentioned. Furthermore, as a salt with organic acids, a salt with carboxylate and a phenolic hydroxyl group can be mentioned. Moreover, the compound with alcoholic hydroxyl group, the chelate compound with acetylacetone, etc. can be mentioned.

  Of these, organic bases such as pyridine and amines, and alkali metal and alkaline earth metal hydroxides are preferable in consideration of the influence on reactivity and toner characteristics. More preferable examples include N, N-dimethylbenzylamine, cetylpyridinium, 3,5-dimethylpyridine, dimethylaminopyridine, and sodium hydroxide. These bases may have other functional groups and may form a salt compound. These may be used alone or in combination.

There is no limitation in particular as a Bronsted acid compound, The widely used Bronsted acid can be used widely. For example, alkyl benzene sulfonic acid such as dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid, isopropyl benzene sulfonic acid, camphor sulfonic acid, alkyl sulfonic acid, alkyl disulfonic acid, alkyl phenol sulfonic acid, alkyl naphthalene sulfonic acid, alkyl tetralin sulfonic acid, alkyl allyl sulfonic acid, Petroleum sulfonic acid, alkyl benzimidazole sulfonic acid, higher alcohol ether sulfonic acid, alkyl diphenyl sulfonic acid, higher fatty acid sulfate such as monobutylphenyl phenol sulfate, dibutyl phenyl phenol sulfate, dodecyl sulfate, higher alcohol sulfate, higher alcohol ether sulfate Ester, higher fatty acid amide alkylol sulfate, higher fatty acid amide alkylated sulfate, naphthenyl alkyl Uses sulfuric acid, sulfated fat, sulfosuccinate, various fatty acids, sulfonated higher fatty acids, higher alkyl phosphates, resin acids, resin acid alcohol sulfuric acid, naphthenic acid, niobic acid, and all their salt compounds. Yes, but not limited to this. Moreover, these catalysts may have a functional group in the structure. A plurality of these catalysts may be combined as necessary. Examples of the Bronsted acid catalyst preferably used include dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, benzenesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, camphorsulfonic acid, sulfuric acid and the like.
Further, examples of the Bronsted acid include scandium dodecylbenzenesulfonate having a dodecylbenzenesulfonate group attached to a rare earth metal.
Further, as the Bronsted acid compound, a salt of a Bronsted acid compound such as sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate or sodium dodecyl sulfate, which is a neutralized Bronsted acid, may be used. It may be an anhydride.
Moreover, a Bronsted acid compound may be used independently or may use 2 or more types together.

  When these catalysts have an alkyl group, the structure is not limited, and may be a straight chain called a soft type or a branched structure. As the branch, any shape such as a comb structure generally called a hard type or a normal bifurcated structure can be used. Further, these alkyl groups may have a distribution. For example, in the case of a dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid catalyst, if the main component occupying 70% by weight or more of the catalyst is dodecyl, the other chain It may have a long alkyl chain. Such distribution in chain length is a known fact in industrial products, and as an industrially acceptable purity, the main component is 70% by weight or more, preferably 80% by weight or more, more preferably 90% by weight. % Or more is used appropriately. These separation and quantification can be performed by, for example, high performance liquid chromatography.

In the polycondensation catalyst that can be used in the present invention, a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound are preferably used in combination, and a Bronsted acid compound salt is also preferably used.
When the basic compound and the Bronsted acid compound are used in combination, the amount of each compound used is in the range of Bronsted acid compound: basic compound = 1: 0.1 to 1: 2 in molar ratio. The ratio is preferably 1: 0.1 to 1: 1.5. Further, when a salt of a Bronsted acid compound is used, the ratio of the acid group to the base group in the salt of the Bronsted acid compound is synonymous with the molar ratio of the amount used, and is a complete neutralized salt. The molar ratio of the amount used is 1: 1. It is preferable for the amount used to be in this ratio range since the effect of blending the basic compound is sufficiently exhibited and the activity of the Bronsted acid compound itself is sufficiently maintained.
Moreover, it is preferable that the basic compound used for preparation of the salt of the Bronsted acid compound is an organic base such as pyridine and amines.
When a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound are used in combination, or when a salt of a Bronsted acid compound is used, coloring is more likely than in the case of using only an acidic catalyst, and charging in a toner using the polyester resin as a binder resin. It is preferable because it can suppress the environmental dependency of This is considered to prevent coloring because the basic compound reacts with the Bronsted acid compound remaining in the reaction system and suppresses the coordination of the Bronsted acid compound to the ester bond site. Furthermore, it is preferable not only to prevent coloring, but also to prevent environmental dependence of the toner due to deterioration of charging property due to the remaining Bronsted acid compound by this reaction. Furthermore, the basic compound has a property of extracting hydrogen from a polyvalent carboxylic acid which is a polyester monomer. For this reason, it also has a promoter effect that the polycondensation reaction by the Bronsted acid compound is further promoted.

In addition, as a polycondensation catalyst, a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound may be mixed at the time of polycondensation or may be used in advance, or a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound may be used in advance. You may make it react and isolate | separate and use as a salt of a Bronsted acid compound, and you may produce | generate and use by salt exchange etc. in a polycondensation reaction system.
This can be synthesized, for example, by reacting the above-mentioned Bronsted acid compound with a basic compound and salt exchange. For example, there is cetylpyridinium dodecylbenzenesulfonate obtained by reacting dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid with cetylpyridinium chloride. In addition, p-toluenesulfonic acid pyridinium salt, trifluoromethanesulfonic acid N-fluoropyridinium salt, and the like can be exemplified as commercially available reagents.
As a method for salt exchange, a known method can be used. A method such as mixing a Bronsted acid compound and a halide salt of a basic compound and stirring the mixture at a high temperature, or a salt in an appropriate organic solvent. A method of forming can be exemplified.

As a polycondensation catalyst that can be used in the present invention, a Lewis acid catalyst, a rare earth-containing catalyst, and a catalyst such as a hydrolase may be used in combination. These compounds having the catalytic action shown below may be used singly or in combination.
A Lewis acid catalyst may be used in combination with the polycondensation catalyst.
Lewis acid catalysts include dibutyltin oxide, tin oxalate, tin acetate, tin oxide, dibutyltin dimethoxide, tin compounds such as butyltin hydroxide, titanium compounds such as tetrabutoxy titanium, tetraphenoxy titanium, titanium oxide, titanium oxalate, Antimony compounds such as antimony trioxide and antimony tartrate, zinc compounds such as zinc acetate, zinc stearate and zinc acetylacetone, boric acid compounds such as triphenoxyboron and zinc borate, germanium compounds such as germanium oxide and germanium ethoxide, acetic acid Examples thereof include manganese and cobalt acetate.

Further, a rare earth-containing catalyst may be used in combination with the polycondensation catalyst.
As the rare earth-containing catalyst, scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), as the lanthanoid element, lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), and the like are effective, especially alkylbenzenesulfone Acid salts, alkyl sulfate esters, or those having a triflate structure are effective.
As the rare earth-containing catalyst, those having a triflate structure such as scandium triflate, yttrium triflate, and lanthanoid triflate are preferable. The lanthanoid triflate is described in detail in Journal of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Vol. 53, No. 5, p44-54). An example of the triflate is X (OSO ₂ CF ₃ ) _{3 in} the structural formula. Here, X is a rare earth element, and among these, X is more preferably scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), ytterbium (Yb), samarium (Sm), or the like.

Moreover, you may use a hydrolase together with the said polycondensation catalyst.
The hydrolase is not particularly limited as long as it catalyzes an ester synthesis reaction. Examples of the hydrolase in the present invention include EC (enzyme number) 3.1 group such as carboxyesterase, lipase, phospholipase, acetylesterase, pectinesterase, cholesterol esterase, tannase, monoacylglycerol lipase, lactonase, lipoprotein lipase and the like. (See Maruo and Tamiya's “Enzyme Handbook” Asakura Shoten (1982) etc.) Hydrolase and epoxide classified as EC 3.2 that act on glycosyl compounds such as esterase, glucosidase, galactosidase, glucuronidase, and xylosidase EC3. Acting on peptide bonds such as hydrolase, aminopeptidase, chymotrypsin, trypsin, plasmin, subtilisin, etc. classified into EC3.3 group such as hydrase. Can be mentioned hydrolases such classified hydrolases classified into groups, the EC3.7 group such as furo retinoic hydrolase.

  Among the above esterases, enzymes that hydrolyze glycerol esters to liberate fatty acids are called lipases, but lipases are highly stable in organic solvents, catalyze ester synthesis reactions in high yields, and are available at a lower price. There are advantages such as what you can do. Therefore, it is desirable to use lipase also in the manufacturing method of the polyester of this invention from the surface of a yield or cost.

  Lipases of various origins can be used, but preferred are genus Pseudomonas, genus Alcaligenes, genus Achromobacter, genus Candida, genus Aspergillus, lysopus Examples include lipases obtained from microorganisms such as (Rhizopus) genus and Mucor genus, lipases obtained from plant seeds, lipases obtained from animal tissues, pancreatin, steapsin and the like. Among these, it is preferable to use lipases derived from microorganisms of the genus Pseudomonas, Candida, and Aspergillus.

  The concentration of the polycondensation catalyst in the polycondensation step of the present invention is preferably 0.01 to 5 mol% with respect to the total amount of the polycondensable monomer. A catalyst amount of 0.01 mol% or more is preferable because the catalyst effect is sufficient and polycondensation proceeds easily. On the other hand, when the catalyst amount is 5 mol% or less, the polyester is not decomposed due to an excessive catalyst, the molecular weight does not decrease, and the resin is less colored, which is preferable. A particularly preferable amount of catalyst is 0.04 to 1 mol%, most preferably 0.04 to 0.8 mol%.

(Polycondensable monomer)
Examples of the polycondensable monomer that can be used in the present invention include polyvalent carboxylic acids, polyols, and hydroxycarboxylic acids.
The polyvalent carboxylic acid used as the polycondensable monomer is a compound containing two or more carboxyl groups in one molecule. Among these, dicarboxylic acid is a compound containing two carboxyl groups in one molecule. For example, oxalic acid, succinic acid, maleic acid, adipic acid, β-methyladipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, nonanedicarboxylic acid , Decanedicarboxylic acid, undecanedicarboxylic acid, dodecanedicarboxylic acid, fumaric acid, citraconic acid, diglycolic acid, cyclohexane-3,5-diene-1,2-carboxylic acid, malic acid, citric acid, hexahydroterephthalic acid, Malonic acid, pimelic acid, tartaric acid, mucous acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, tetrachlorophthalic acid, chlorophthalic acid, nitrophthalic acid, p-carboxyphenylacetic acid, p-phenylenediacetic acid, m-phenylenediglycolic acid, p-phenylene diglycolic acid, o-phenylene diglycol Examples include phosphoric acid, diphenylacetic acid, diphenyl-p, p'-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene-1,5-dicarboxylic acid, naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid, anthracene dicarboxylic acid, etc. Can do. Examples of the polyvalent carboxylic acid other than dicarboxylic acid include trimellitic acid, pyromellitic acid, naphthalenetricarboxylic acid, naphthalenetetracarboxylic acid, pyrenetricarboxylic acid, and pyrenetetracarboxylic acid.
These carboxylic acids may have a functional group other than a carboxyl group, and carboxylic acid derivatives such as acid anhydrides and acid esters can also be used.

  Examples of the polyvalent carboxylic acid that can be used in the present invention include azelaic acid, sebacic acid, 1,9-nonanedicarboxylic acid, 1,10-decamethylenedicarboxylic acid, 1,11- It is preferable to use undecane dicarboxylic acid, 1,12-dodecanedicarboxylic acid, terephthalic acid, trimellitic acid, pyromellitic acid and the like. Since these polyvalent carboxylic acids are hardly soluble or insoluble in water, the polycondensation reaction proceeds in a suspension in which the polyvalent carboxylic acid is dispersed in water.

  The polyol used as the polycondensable monomer is a compound containing two or more hydroxyl groups in one molecule. Among these, the diol is a compound containing two hydroxyl groups in one molecule, and examples thereof include ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, butanediol, diethylene glycol, hexanediol, cyclohexanediol, octanediol, decanediol, and dodecanediol. Can do. Examples of polyols other than diols include glycerin, pentaerythritol, hexamethylol melamine, hexaethylol melamine, tetramethylol benzoguanamine, and tetraethylol benzoguanamine.

As the polyol that can be used in the present invention, among the above-mentioned polyols, it is preferable to use divalent polyols such as 1,8-octanediol, 1,10-decanediol, and 1,12-dodecanediol.
Since these polyols are hardly soluble or insoluble in water, the ester synthesis reaction proceeds in a suspension in which the polyol is dispersed in water.

  Also, polycondensation can be carried out using a compound (hydroxycarboxylic acid) containing a carboxylic acid and a hydroxyl group in one molecule. Examples include hydroxyoctanoic acid, hydroxynonanoic acid, hydroxydecanoic acid, hydroxyundecanoic acid, hydroxydodecanoic acid, hydroxytetradecanoic acid, hydroxytridecanoic acid, hydroxyhexadecanoic acid, hydroxypentadecanoic acid, hydroxystearic acid, and the like. It is not meant to be limited to this.

  Dicarboxylic acids used to obtain crystalline polyesters include oxalic acid, malonic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, pimelic acid, speric acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, citraconic acid , Itaconic acid, glutamic acid, n-dodecyl succinic acid, n-dodecenyl succinic acid, isododecyl succinic acid, isododecenyl succinic acid, n-octyl succinic acid, n-octenyl succinic acid, acid anhydrides or acid chlorides thereof Can be mentioned.

Preferred crystalline resins include 1,9-nonanediol and 1,10-decamethylenecarboxylic acid, or polyester obtained by reacting cyclohexanediol and adipic acid, and 1,6-hexanediol and sebacic acid. Polyester obtained by reacting ethylene glycol and succinic acid, polyester obtained by reacting ethylene glycol and sebacic acid, obtained by reacting 1,4-butanediol and succinic acid Mention may be made of polyester.
Of these, polyesters obtained by reacting 1,9-nonanediol with 1,10-decamethylenecarboxylic acid and 1,6-hexanediol with sebacic acid are more preferred.

In the present invention, any of the above polycondensable monomers can be used without limitation.
Amorphous polyester has a high hardness at normal temperature, and thus has high fluidity, and has properties that are very suitable for toners in terms of offset suppression, low-temperature fixability, image quality, and the like.
Crystalline polyester mainly composed of straight-chain monomers has a sharp melt property due to crystallinity and a great merit for low-temperature fixability.
The confirmation of non-crystallinity can be determined by the presence or absence of glass transition temperature and melting point by differential thermal analysis (DSC) of the produced polyester.
Here, the glass transition point of an amorphous resin means the value measured by the method (DSC method) prescribed | regulated to ASTMD3418-82.
“Crystallinity” as shown in the above “crystalline polyester resin” means that, in differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), it has a clear endothermic peak, not a stepwise endothermic change. Means that the half-value width of the endothermic peak when measured at a heating rate of 10 ° C./min is within 6 ° C.
On the other hand, a resin having an endothermic peak with a half-value width exceeding 6 ° C. or a resin having no clear endothermic peak means non-crystalline (amorphous).

When the polyester of the present invention is amorphous, the glass transition point Tg is preferably 50 to 80 ° C, more preferably 50 to 65 ° C. A Tg of 50 ° C. or higher is preferable because the cohesive force of the binder resin itself in the high temperature range does not decrease and the hot offset property is good during fixing. A Tg of 80 ° C. or lower is preferable because sufficient melting can be obtained and the minimum fixing temperature does not increase.
The crystalline melting point Tm when the polyester of the present invention is crystalline is preferably 50 to 120 ° C, more preferably 55 to 90 ° C. A Tm of 50 ° C. or higher is preferable because the cohesive strength of the binder resin itself in the high temperature range does not decrease and the releasability and hot offset property are good during fixing. A Tg of 120 ° C. or lower is preferable because sufficient melting can be obtained and the minimum fixing temperature does not increase.

  The polycondensation reaction in the polycondensation step of the present invention can be carried out by general polycondensation methods such as underwater polymerization such as bulk polymerization, emulsion polymerization and suspension polymerization, solution polymerization and interfacial polymerization. In-water polycondensation and bulk polymerization are used. Although the reaction is possible under atmospheric pressure, general conditions such as reduced pressure and nitrogen flow can be widely used for the purpose of increasing the molecular weight of the polyester.

  The polyester of the present invention is preferably reacted at a temperature lower than the conventional reaction temperature, and the reaction temperature is more preferably 70 ° C or higher and lower than 150 ° C. More preferably, it is 80 degreeC or more and less than 140 degreeC. A reaction temperature of 70 ° C. or higher is preferable because the solubility of the monomer and the catalyst activity are excellent, the reactivity is sufficient, and the molecular weight elongation is not suppressed. When the reaction temperature is less than 150 ° C., it is a low energy production method, and further, coloring of the resin due to high temperature, decomposition of the produced polyester, and the like do not occur.

<Aqueous medium>
The polycondensation reaction in the polycondensation step of the present invention may be performed in an aqueous medium.
Examples of the aqueous medium that can be used in the present invention include water such as distilled water and ion exchange water, and alcohols such as ethanol and methanol. Among these, ethanol and water are preferable, and water such as distilled water and ion-exchanged water is particularly preferable. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more.
The aqueous medium may contain a water-miscible organic solvent. Examples of the water-miscible organic solvent include acetone and acetic acid.

<Organic solvent>
The polycondensation reaction in the polycondensation step of the present invention may be performed using an organic solvent.
Specific examples of the organic solvent that can be used in the present invention include, for example, hydrocarbon solvents such as toluene, xylene, mesitylene, chlorobenzene, bromobenzene, iodobenzene, dichlorobenzene, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane. Halogen solvents such as p-chlorotoluene, ketone solvents such as 3-hexanone, acetophenone and benzophenone, dibutyl ether, anisole, phenetole, o-dimethoxybenzene, p-dimethoxybenzene, 3-methoxytoluene, dibenzyl ether, Ether solvents such as benzyl phenyl ether, methoxynaphthalene and tetrahydrofuran, thioether solvents such as phenyl sulfide and thioanisole, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, pentyl acetate, methyl benzoate, methyl phthalate, phthalic acid Ester solvents such as chill and cellosolve acetate, diphenyl ether, or alkyl-substituted diphenyl ethers such as 4-methylphenyl ether, 3-methylphenyl ether, and 3-phenoxytoluene, or 4-bromophenyl ether, 4-chlorophenyl ether, 4 -Halogen-substituted diphenyl ethers such as bromodiphenyl ether and 4-methyl-4'-bromodiphenyl ether, or alkoxy such as 4-methoxydiphenyl ether, 4-methoxyphenyl ether, 3-methoxyphenyl ether, 4-methyl-4'-methoxydiphenyl ether Examples thereof include diphenyl ether solvents such as substituted diphenyl ethers and cyclic diphenyl ethers such as dibenzofuran and xanthene, and these may be used in combination. A solvent that can be easily separated from water is preferable. In order to obtain a polyester having a high average molecular weight, an ester solvent, an ether solvent, and a diphenyl ether solvent are more preferable, and an alkyl-aryl ether solvent and an ester are preferable. System solvents are particularly preferred.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, in order to obtain a polyester having a high average molecular weight, dehydration and demonomer may be added to the organic solvent. Specific examples of the dehydration and demonomer include, for example, molecular sieves such as molecular sieve 3A, molecular sieve 4A, molecular sieve 5A, molecular sieve 13X, alumina, silica gel, calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, diphosphorus pentoxide, concentrated Examples include sulfuric acid, magnesium perchlorate, barium oxide, calcium oxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, metal hydrides such as calcium hydride, sodium hydride, lithium aluminum hydride, or alkali metals such as sodium. It is done. Among these, molecular sieves are preferable because of easy handling and regeneration.

In the present invention, the polycondensation step may include a polymerization reaction between the above-described monomer and a prepolymer prepared in advance. The prepolymer is not limited as long as it is a polymer that can be melted or uniformly mixed with the monomer.
Furthermore, the polyester of the present invention is a homopolymer of the above-mentioned monomer, a copolymer obtained by combining two or more monomers containing the above-mentioned monomers, or a mixture, graft polymer, partially branched or It may have a crosslinked structure.

  The weight average molecular weight of the polyester of the present invention is preferably 1,500 to 60,000, more preferably 3,000 to 40,000. A weight average molecular weight of 1,500 or more is preferable because the cohesive force of the binder resin does not decrease and the hot offset property is good. A weight average molecular weight of 60,000 or less is preferable because the hot offset property is good and the minimum fixing temperature does not increase.

  Further, the polyester of the present invention may have partial branching or crosslinking depending on selection of the carboxylic acid valence and alcohol valence of the monomer.

(Resin particle dispersion and production method thereof)
The method for producing the resin particle dispersion of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as the polyester produced by the production method of the present invention is used, and can be produced by a known method.
In the present invention, the dispersion medium of the resin particle dispersion is preferably the above-mentioned aqueous medium.
The resin particle dispersion of the present invention can be suitably used as a resin particle dispersion for electrostatic image developing toner.

Examples of the method for producing the resin particle dispersion of the present invention include a method including a dispersion step of dispersing the polyester-containing material in an aqueous medium to obtain a resin particle dispersion.
In the dispersion step, it is preferable to carry out dispersion by adding a surfactant or the like in order to increase the dispersion efficiency or improve the stability of the resin particle dispersion.
Examples of a method for dispersing and granulating the polyester of the present invention in an aqueous medium include, for example, a suspension polymerization method, a dissolution suspension method, a miniemulsion method in an aqueous medium when the polyester is produced as described above. Examples include a microemulsion method, a multistage swelling method, and an emulsion polymerization method including seed polymerization.
In the case of producing a polyester by an underwater polymerization method, the method for producing a resin particle dispersion of the present invention is a step of preparing an emulsion dispersion in which an oil phase containing at least a polycondensable monomer is emulsified and dispersed in an aqueous medium. And at least a step of obtaining a polyester by polycondensation of a polycondensable monomer in an aqueous medium using a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound. It is preferable that the method is a method for producing a resin particle dispersion in which the polyester produced by the above is dispersed. The above production method is preferable because the resin particle dispersion of the present invention can be produced by a simple operation and is excellent in energy saving.

  In addition, in the method for producing a polyester and the method for producing a resin particle dispersion of the present invention, when emulsification polycondensation is carried out in an aqueous medium, preferred emulsification temperatures are energy saving, polymer production rate, and thermal decomposition rate of the produced polymer. In view of the above, the lower one is preferable, but it is preferably 40 to 150 ° C, more preferably 80 to 130 ° C. It is preferable that the emulsification temperature is 150 ° C. or lower because the required energy does not become excessive and the molecular weight is not lowered due to decomposition of the resin due to high heat. Moreover, it is preferable for the temperature to be 40 ° C. or higher because the resin viscosity is moderate and the formation of fine particles is easy.

The method of dispersing and granulating the polyester of the present invention in an aqueous medium can be selected from known methods such as forced emulsification, self-emulsification, and phase inversion emulsification. Of these, the self-emulsification method and the phase inversion emulsification method are preferably applied in consideration of the energy required for emulsification, the particle size controllability of the obtained emulsion, stability, and the like.
The self-emulsification method and the phase inversion emulsification method are described in “Application Technology of Ultrafine Particle Polymer (CMC Publishing)”. As the polar group used for self-emulsification, a carboxyl group, a sulfone group, and the like can be used. When applied to the polyester of the present invention, a carboxyl group is preferably used.

When an organic solvent is used in the dispersion step, the method for producing a resin particle dispersion of the present invention may include a step of removing at least a part of the organic solvent and a step of forming resin particles.
For example, after emulsifying the binder resin-containing material, it is preferable to solidify as particles by removing a part of the organic solvent. As a specific method of solidification, after the polycondensation resin-containing material is emulsified and dispersed in an aqueous medium, while stirring the solution, an inert gas such as air or nitrogen is fed into the organic solvent at the gas-liquid interface. A method of drying (waste wind drying method), a method of drying while holding under a reduced pressure and bubbling an inert gas as necessary (a reduced pressure topping method), and further a polycondensation resin-containing material in an aqueous medium There is a method in which an emulsified dispersion or emulsified dispersion of a polycondensation resin-containing material is discharged from the pores in a shower-like manner and dropped into a dish-shaped receiver (for example, a shower-type desolvent method). . It is preferable to remove the solvent by selecting or combining these methods as appropriate based on the evaporation rate of the organic solvent to be used, solubility in water, and the like.

The center diameter (median diameter) of the resin particles in the resin particle dispersion of the present invention thus obtained is preferably 0.05 μm or more and 2.0 μm or less, more preferably 0.1 to 1.5 μm, More preferably, it is the range of 0.1-1.0 micrometer.
When the median diameter of the resin particles is 0.05 μm or more, the agglomeration during particle formation is good, free resin particles are not generated, the viscosity of the system does not increase, and the particle size can be easily controlled. Therefore, it is preferable.
When the median diameter of the resin particles is 2.0 μm or less, coarse powder is not generated, the particle size distribution is good, and the release agent such as wax is not liberated. Is preferable because it does not decrease.
It is also important that not only the center diameter of the resin particles in the resin particle dispersion but also the generation of ultrafine powder or ultracoarse powder, and the ratio of particles of 0.01 μm or less or 5.0 μm or more is 10% or less. More preferably, it is more desirable that it is 5% or less.
The median diameter of the resin particles was measured, for example, with a laser diffraction particle size distribution measuring apparatus (LA-920, manufactured by Horiba, Ltd.).

(Electrostatic image developing toner and method for producing the same)
The electrostatic image developing toner of the present invention can be produced by a mechanical production method such as a melt-kneading pulverization method using the polyester produced according to the present invention, or a resin particle dispersion can be produced using the polyester. The toner may be manufactured by a so-called chemical manufacturing method in which the toner is manufactured from the resin particle dispersion.

When the pulverized toner is manufactured by the kneading and pulverization method, it is preferable that the binder resin manufactured as described above is mixed with other toner raw materials in advance by stirring with a Henschel mixer, a super mixer, or the like before melt-kneading. At this time, a combination of the agitator capacity, the rotation speed of the agitator, the agitation time, and the like must be selected.
Next, the agitated product of the binder resin and the other toner raw materials is kneaded in a molten state by a known method. Kneading with a single-screw or multi-screw extruder is preferable because dispersibility is improved. At this time, the number of kneading screw zones of the kneading apparatus, the cylinder temperature, the kneading speed, etc. must all be set to appropriate values and controlled. Among the control factors at the time of kneading, the number of rotations of the kneader, the number of kneading screw zones, and the cylinder temperature have a particularly great influence on the kneading state. In general, the number of rotations is preferably 300 to 1,000 rpm, and the number of kneading screw zones is kneaded better by using a multi-stage zone such as a two-stage screw rather than a single stage. For example, when the main component of the binder resin is non-crystalline polyester, the cylinder set temperature is determined from the softening temperature of the non-crystalline polyester, and is preferably about −20 to +100 degrees than the normal softening temperature. The above range is preferable because sufficient kneading and dispersion can be obtained, aggregation hardly occurs, kneading share is applied, and sufficient dispersion and cooling after kneading can be easily performed.
The melt-kneaded kneaded product is sufficiently cooled and then pulverized by a known method such as a mechanical pulverization method such as a ball mill, a sand mill, or a hammer mill, or an airflow pulverization method. If cooling by a conventional method is not sufficient, a cooling or freeze pulverization method can also be selected.

  For the purpose of controlling the particle size distribution of the toner, the pulverized toner may be classified. By eliminating particles having an inappropriate diameter by classification, there is an effect of improving toner fixing property and image quality.

In addition, the method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner (also simply referred to as “toner”) of the present invention comprises a step of aggregating the resin particles in a dispersion containing at least a resin particle dispersion to obtain aggregated particles (hereinafter referred to as “the toner particles”). A method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner comprising a step of heating and fusing the agglomerated particles (hereinafter also referred to as a “fusing step”). The liquid is preferably the resin particle dispersion for electrostatic image developing toner of the present invention.
The “electrostatic image developing toner” and the “toner” are not limited to the toner manufactured by a chemical manufacturing method, but may include the pulverized toner described above.
The pulverized toner of the present invention and the toner produced by the chemical production method are excellent in hot offset property and cold offset property at the time of fixing by using the binder resin of the present invention. Further, the toner produced by the chemical production method of the present invention is preferable because of excellent particle distribution.

  Using the resin particle dispersion prepared as described above, so-called latex, it is possible to produce a toner whose toner particle diameter and distribution are controlled using an aggregation (association) method. Specifically, the latex prepared as described above is mixed with a colorant particle dispersion and a release agent particle dispersion, and an aggregating agent is added to form heteroaggregation to form aggregated particles having a toner diameter. Then, it is obtained by heating to a temperature above the glass transition point or above the melting point of the resin particles to fuse and coalesce the aggregated particles, and wash and dry. In this manufacturing method, the toner shape can be controlled from an indeterminate shape to a spherical shape by selecting a heating temperature condition.

In the agglomeration step of the present invention, the resin particle dispersion other than the resin particle dispersion of the present invention and the resin particle dispersion of the present invention can be mixed to carry out the steps after the aggregation. At that time, after the resin particle dispersion of the present invention is aggregated in advance and the first aggregated particles are formed, the resin particle dispersion of the present invention or another resin particle dispersion is further added to form a second shell on the surface of the first particles. It is also possible to make the particles multi-layered, such as forming a layer. Of course, it is also possible to produce multilayer particles in the reverse order of the above example.
Further, for example, in the aggregation step, the resin particle dispersion containing the binder resin of the present invention and the colorant particle dispersion are aggregated in advance, and after forming the first aggregated particles, the resin particles further containing the binder resin of the present invention It is also possible to form a second shell layer on the surface of the first particles by adding a dispersion or another resin particle dispersion. In this example, the colorant dispersion is separately adjusted, but naturally, a colorant may be blended in advance with the resin particles.

  After completing the coalescence and coalescence process of the aggregated particles, the desired toner particles are obtained through an optional washing process, solid-liquid separation process, and drying process. Replacement cleaning is desirable. Moreover, although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in a solid-liquid separation process, From the point of productivity, suction filtration, pressure filtration, etc. are suitable. Further, the drying process is not particularly limited, but freeze drying, flash jet drying, fluidized drying, vibration fluidized drying and the like are preferably used from the viewpoint of productivity.

  As a flocculant, besides a surfactant, an inorganic salt or a divalent or higher metal salt can be suitably used. In particular, when a metal salt is used, it is preferable in characteristics such as aggregation control and toner chargeability. The metal salt compound used for aggregation is obtained by dissolving a general inorganic metal compound or a polymer thereof in a resin particle dispersion, but the metal elements constituting the inorganic metal salt are a periodic table (long period table). 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A, 7A, 8, 1B, 2B, and 3B, and those having a valence of 2 or more and soluble in the form of ions in the resin particle aggregation system. Good. Specific examples of preferred inorganic metal salts include metal salts such as calcium chloride, calcium nitrate, barium chloride, magnesium chloride, zinc chloride, aluminum chloride, and aluminum sulfate, and polyaluminum chloride, polyaluminum hydroxide, calcium sulfide. And inorganic metal salt polymers. Among these, an aluminum salt and a polymer thereof are particularly preferable. In general, in order to obtain a sharper particle size distribution, even if the valence of the inorganic metal salt is more than 1, more than 2, more than 3, and the same valence, the polymerization type inorganic metal salt weight Combined is more suitable.

  In the present invention, if necessary, known additives can be blended in combination of one or more kinds within a range that does not affect the results of the present invention. For example, flame retardants, flame retardant aids, brighteners, waterproofing agents, water repellents, inorganic fillers (surface modifiers), mold release agents, antioxidants, plasticizers, surfactants, dispersants, lubricants, Fillers, extenders, binders, charge control agents and the like. These additives can be blended in any production of the coating agent.

  Also, magnetic materials such as ferrite, magnetite, reduced iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese and other metals, alloys, and compounds containing these metals are used as internal additives, and quaternary ammonium salt compounds, nigrosine-based as charge control agents. Various commonly used charge control agents such as compounds, dyes composed of complexes of aluminum, iron, chromium, and triphenylmethane pigments can be used, but the ionic strength that affects aggregation and temporary stability Materials that are difficult to dissolve in water are preferred in terms of control and reduction of wastewater contamination.

Specific examples of the release agent that can be used in the present invention include, for example, various ester waxes, low molecular weight polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polybutene, silicones that show a softening point by heating, oleic acid amide, and erucic acid amide. , Fatty acid amides such as ricinoleic acid amide and stearic acid amide, plant waxes such as carnauba wax, rice wax, candelilla wax, tree wax and jojoba oil, animal waxes such as beeswax, montan Examples thereof include mineral and petroleum waxes such as wax, ozokerite, ceresin, paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, microcrystalline wax, Fischer-Tropsch wax, and modified products thereof.
These waxes are hardly dissolved in a solvent such as toluene at room temperature or very little even if dissolved.
These waxes are dispersed in water together with ionic surfactants, polymer electrolytes such as polymer acids and polymer bases, heated to the melting point or higher, and homogenizers or pressure discharge type dispersers with strong shearing ability. (Gorin homogenizer, manufactured by Gorin Co., Ltd.) can be dispersed in the form of fine particles to prepare a dispersion of particles of 1 μm or less.

It is desirable to add these release agents in the range of 5 to 25% by weight based on the total weight of the toner constituent solids, in order to ensure the peelability of the fixed image in the oilless fixing system.
The particle size of the obtained release agent particle dispersion was measured, for example, with a laser diffraction particle size distribution measuring device (LA-920, manufactured by Horiba, Ltd.). In addition, when using a release agent, after the resin particles, colorant particles, and release agent particles are aggregated, it is possible to add resin particle dispersion to adhere the resin particles to the surface of the aggregated particles. It is desirable from the viewpoint of securing the property.

  Examples of surfactants used for emulsion polymerization, seed polymerization, pigment dispersion, resin particles, release agent dispersion, aggregation, or stabilization thereof include sulfate ester, sulfonate, phosphate ester, soap Anionic surfactants such as amines, cationic surfactants such as amine salt types and quaternary ammonium salt types, and nonionic surfactants such as polyethylene glycols, alkylphenol ethylene oxide adducts, and polyhydric alcohols It is also effective to use them in combination, and general means such as a rotary shear type homogenizer, a ball mill having a media, a sand mill, and a dyno mill can be used for dispersion.

  Examples of flame retardants and flame retardant aids include, but are not limited to, bromine flame retardants that have already been widely used, antimony trioxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, and ammonium polyphosphate.

In the present invention, for example, the following colorants can be used.
Examples of the black pigment include carbon black, copper oxide, manganese dioxide, aniline black, activated carbon, nonmagnetic ferrite, and magnetite.
Examples of yellow pigments include yellow lead, zinc yellow, yellow iron oxide, cadmium yellow, chrome yellow, hansa yellow, hansa yellow 10G, benzidine yellow G, benzidine yellow GR, selenium yellow, quinoline yellow, permanent yellow NCG, and the like. be able to.
Examples of the orange pigment include red yellow lead, molybdenum orange, permanent orange GTR, pyrazolone orange, vulcan orange, benzidine orange G, indanthrene brilliant orange RK, and indanthrene brilliant orange GK.
Red pigments include Bengala, Cadmium Red, Red Plum, Mercury Sulfide, Watch Young Red, Permanent Red 4R, Risor Red, Brilliantamine 3B, Brilliantamine 6B, Daypon Oil Red, Pyrazolone Red, Rhodamine B Lake, Lake Red C , Rose Bengal, Eoxin Red, Alizarin Lake and the like.
Blue pigments include bitumen, cobalt blue, alkali blue rake, Victoria blue rake, fast sky blue, induslen blue BC, aniline blue, ultramarine blue, calco oil blue, methylene blue chloride, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, malachite green oxare. Rate.
Examples of purple pigments include manganese purple, fast violet B, and methyl violet lake.
Examples of the green pigment include chromium oxide, chromium green, pigment green, malachite green lake, final yellow green G, and the like.
Examples of white pigments include zinc white, titanium oxide, antimony white, and zinc sulfide.
Examples of extender pigments include barite powder, barium carbonate, clay, silica, white carbon, talc, and alumina white.
Examples of the dye include various dyes such as basic, acidic, dispersed, and direct dyes, such as nigrosine, methylene blue, rose bengal, quinoline yellow, and ultramarine blue.

These colorants are used alone or in combination. With respect to these colorants, for example, a dispersion of colorant particles can be prepared using a media type dispersing machine such as a rotary shearing homogenizer, a ball mill, a sand mill, or an attritor, or a high-pressure opposed collision type dispersing machine. Further, these colorants can be dispersed in an aqueous system by a homogenizer using a polar surfactant.
The colorant that can be used in the present invention is selected from the viewpoints of hue angle, saturation, brightness, weather resistance, OHP permeability, and dispersibility in the toner.
The colorant can be added in the range of 4 to 15% by weight with respect to the total weight of the toner constituent solids.
When using a magnetic material as the black colorant, 12 to 240% by weight can be added unlike other colorants.
The blending amount of the colorant is a necessary amount for securing the color developability at the time of fixing. Moreover, OHP transparency and color developability can be ensured by setting the center diameter (median diameter) of the colorant particles in the toner to 100 to 330 nm.
The center diameter of the colorant particles was measured, for example, with a laser diffraction particle size distribution measuring device (LA-700, manufactured by Horiba, Ltd.).

Further, when used as a magnetic toner, magnetic powder may be contained. Specifically, a material that is magnetized in a magnetic field is used, but a ferromagnetic powder such as iron, cobalt, or nickel, or a compound such as ferrite or magnetite is used.
When the toner is obtained in the aqueous phase in the present invention, it is necessary to pay attention to the aqueous phase migration of the magnetic material. Preferably, the surface of the magnetic material is modified in advance, for example, subjected to a hydrophobic treatment or the like. preferable.

When the toner is produced using the polycondensation resin particle dispersion of the present invention, an addition polymerization type resin particle dispersion prepared by using conventionally known emulsion polymerization can be used together.
Examples of addition polymerization monomers for preparing these resin particle dispersions include styrenes such as styrene and parachlorostyrene, vinyl naphthalene, vinyl chloride, vinyl bromide, vinyl fluoride, vinyl acetate, propion. Vinyl esters such as vinyl acid, vinyl benzoate, vinyl butyrate, such as methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate, dodecyl acrylate, n-octyl acrylate, 2-chloroethyl acrylate, Methylene aliphatic carboxylic acid esters such as phenyl acrylate, methyl α-chloroacrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, acrylamide such as vinyl methyl ether, vinyl ethyl ether, vinyl Monomers having N-containing polar groups such as vinyl ethers such as ruisobutyl ether, N-vinyl compounds such as N-vinyl pyrrole, N-vinyl carbazole, N-vinyl indole, N-vinyl pyrrolidone, methacrylic acid, acrylic Homopolymers and copolymers of vinyl monomers such as vinyl carboxylic acids such as acid, cinnamic acid and carboxyethyl acrylate, and various waxes can also be used.
In the case of addition polymerization monomers, emulsion polymerization can be carried out using an ionic surfactant or the like to create a resin particle dispersion. If it is soluble in a low solvent, the resin is dissolved in those solvents and dispersed in water with a disperser such as a homogenizer together with an ionic surfactant or polymer electrolyte, and then heated or decompressed. A resin particle dispersion can be obtained by evaporating the solvent.

In addition, the toner of the present invention is dried in the same manner as a normal toner for the purpose of imparting fluidity and improving cleaning properties, and then inorganic particles such as silica, alumina, titania and calcium carbonate, vinyl resin, polyester, silicone and the like. The resin particles can be used by being added to the surface of the toner particles while being sheared in a dry state.
When adhering to the toner surface in water, examples of inorganic particles include silica, alumina, titania, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, and tricalcium phosphate. It can be used by dispersing with a surfactant, polymer acid or polymer base.

  In the present invention, a surfactant can be used for resin emulsion polymerization, pigment dispersion, resin dispersion, release agent dispersion, aggregation, and stabilization of aggregated particles. Specifically, sulfate surfactants, sulfonates, phosphates, soaps and other anionic surfactants, amine salts, quaternary ammonium salts and other cationic surfactants, polyethylene glycols, It is also effective to use a nonionic surfactant such as an alkylphenol ethylene oxide adduct system or a polyhydric alcohol system, and as a dispersing means, a general method such as a ball mill, sand mill, or dyno mill having a rotary shearing homogenizer or media Can be used

  After completing the coalescence and coalescence process of the aggregated particles, the desired toner particles are obtained through an optional washing process, solid-liquid separation process, and drying process. Replacement cleaning is desirable. Moreover, although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in a solid-liquid separation process, From the point of productivity, suction filtration, pressure filtration, etc. are suitable. Further, the drying process is not particularly limited, but freeze drying, flash jet drying, fluidized drying, vibration fluidized drying and the like are preferably used from the viewpoint of productivity.

The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ of the toner of the present invention is preferably in the range of 3.0 to 9.0 μm, more preferably in the range of 3.0 to 5.0 μm. It is preferable that D ₅₀ is 3.0 μm or more because the adhesive force is appropriate and the developability is good. Further, it is preferable that D ₅₀ is 9.0 μm or less because the resolution of the image is excellent.
The volume average particle size distribution index GSDv of the toner of the present invention is preferably 1.30 or less. A GSDv of 1.30 or less is preferable because the resolution is good, toner scattering and fogging hardly occur, and image defects hardly occur.

The average particle size distribution index cumulative volume-average particle diameter D ₅₀ and the toner of the present invention, for example (manufactured by Nikkaki Co.) Coulter Counter TAII, particle size is measured by Multisizer II (Nikkaki Co., Ltd.) instrument For the particle size range (channel) divided based on the distribution, the cumulative distribution is drawn from the smaller diameter side to the volume and number, respectively, and the particle size that becomes 16% cumulative is the volume D _16v , the number D _16P , and the cumulative 50% The particle diameter to be defined is defined as volume D _50v and number D _50P , and the particle diameter to be accumulated 84% is defined as volume D _84v and number D _84P . Using these, the volume average particle size distribution index (GSDv) is calculated as (D _84v / D _16V ) ^1/2 and the number average particle size distribution index (GSDp) is calculated as (D _84P / D _16P ) ^1/2 .

The influence of the coarse powder ratio on the image quality increases as the toner diameter is smaller or the toner shape is closer to a spherical shape. In some cases, the reduction of the coarse powder ratio is particularly important.
SF1 is defined as follows.

ここでＭＬ：粒子の絶対最大長、Ａ：粒子の投影面積
これらは、主に顕微鏡画像または走査電子顕微鏡画像をルーゼックス画像解析装置によって取り込み、解析することによって数値化される。

Here, ML: absolute maximum length of particle, A: projected area of particle These are mainly quantified by capturing and analyzing a microscope image or a scanning electron microscope image by a Luzex image analyzer.

(Electrostatic image developer)
The electrostatic image developing toner of the present invention can be used as an electrostatic image developer. The developer is not particularly limited except that it contains the electrostatic image developing toner, and can have an appropriate component composition depending on the purpose. When the electrostatic image developing toner is used alone, it is prepared as a one-component electrostatic image developer, and when used in combination with a carrier, it is prepared as a two-component electrostatic image developer.
As a one-component developer, a method in which a charged toner is formed by frictional charging with a developing sleeve or a charging member, and development according to an electrostatic latent image can be applied.
The carrier is not particularly limited, but usually, magnetic particles such as iron powder, ferrite, iron oxide powder, nickel, etc .; the magnetic particles as a core material and the surface thereof as a styrene resin, vinyl resin, ethylene resin, rosin Resin-coated carrier formed by coating a resin such as a resin based on polyester, polyester or melamine, or a wax such as stearic acid, and forming a resin coating layer; a magnetic material obtained by dispersing magnetic particles in a binder resin Examples include a distributed carrier. Among them, the resin-coated carrier is particularly preferable because the chargeability of the toner and the resistance of the entire carrier can be controlled by the configuration of the resin coating layer.
The mixing ratio of the toner of the present invention and the carrier in the two-component electrostatic image developer is usually 2 to 10 parts by weight of the toner with respect to 100 parts by weight of the carrier. Moreover, the preparation method of a developing agent is not specifically limited, For example, the method of mixing with a V blender etc. is mentioned.

(Image forming method)
Further, the electrostatic image developing toner and the electrostatic image developer of the present invention can be used in an ordinary electrostatic image developing system (electrophotographic system) image forming method.
The image forming method of the present invention includes a latent image forming step of forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member, and developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member with a developer containing toner. A developing step for forming a toner image, a transfer step for transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member to the surface of the transfer target, and a fixing for thermally fixing the toner image transferred to the surface of the transfer target. An electrostatic image developing and pulverizing toner of the present invention or an electrostatic image developing toner of the present invention as the toner, or the electrostatic image developer of the present invention as the developer. It is characterized by.
For each of the above steps, a known step can be used in the image forming method, and are described in, for example, JP-A-56-40868 and JP-A-49-91231.
Further, the image forming method of the present invention may include steps other than the above-described steps. For example, a cleaning step for removing the electrostatic charge image developer remaining on the electrostatic latent image carrier is preferable. Can be mentioned. In the image forming method of the present invention, an embodiment that further includes a recycling step is preferable. The recycling step is a step of transferring the electrostatic charge image developing toner collected in the cleaning step to a developer layer. The image forming method including the recycling step can be performed using an image forming apparatus such as a toner recycling system type copying machine or facsimile machine. The present invention can also be applied to a recycling system in which the cleaning process is omitted and toner is collected simultaneously with development.

As the latent image holding member, for example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and a dielectric recording member can be used.
In the case of an electrophotographic photosensitive member, the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is uniformly charged by a corotron charger, a contact charger or the like and then exposed to form an electrostatic latent image (latent image forming step). Next, the toner particles are attached to the electrostatic latent image by contacting or approaching a developing roll having a developer layer formed on the surface, thereby forming a toner image on the electrophotographic photosensitive member (developing step). The formed toner image is transferred onto the surface of a transfer medium such as paper using a corotron charger or the like (transfer process). Further, the toner image transferred onto the surface of the transfer medium is thermally fixed by a fixing device (fixing step), and a final toner image is formed.
In the heat fixing by the fixing device, a release agent is usually supplied to a fixing member in the fixing device in order to prevent offset and the like.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention in detail, this invention is not limited at all.
For the toner, the following resin particle dispersion, colorant particle dispersion, and release agent particle dispersion were prepared. To form aggregated particles. Next, an inorganic hydroxide is added to adjust the pH in the system from weakly acidic to neutral, and then the mixture is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the glass transition point of the resin particles to fuse and unite. After completion of the reaction, a desired toner is obtained through sufficient washing, solid-liquid separation, and drying processes.
Hereinafter, each preparation method is demonstrated.

<Measurement of haze characteristic value>
The haze characteristic value of the resin particles in the resin particle dispersion is determined by dissolving the resin particles in a phenol / tetrachloroethane mixed solvent after lyophilization, leaving 0.10 to 0.15 g / cm ² solid content on the glass plate. It applied so that it might do, and after air drying, it measured using the Nippon Denshoku Industries Co., Ltd. haze meter.

(Example 1: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (1))
<Resin 1 composition>
1,9-nonanediol 20 parts by weight Dodecanedioic acid 28 parts by weight Sodium hydroxide (basic compound) 0.25 part by weight The above composition was dissolved in 200 parts by weight of water in which 3 parts by weight of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate was dissolved. In addition, the mixture was dispersed using a homogenizer (manufactured by IKA: Ultra Tarrax T50). In this case, the resin composition was dispersed in the aqueous sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate solution for 30 minutes while adjusting the water temperature to 90 ° C. or more and 95 ° C. or less to obtain particles having a volume particle size of 20 μm. This dispersion was heated to 95 ° C. and polymerized for 30 hours. As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (1) having a median diameter of the resin particles of 600 nm, a weight average molecular weight of 3,000, and a solid content of 20% was obtained. When part of the polyester was taken out and freeze-dried, the haze characteristics were evaluated and found to be 9%.

(Preparation of anionic resin particle dispersion)
A solution was prepared by mixing and dissolving 460 parts by weight of styrene, 140 parts by weight of n-butyl acrylate, 12 parts by weight of acrylic acid, 9 parts by weight of dodecanethiol, and the above components. On the other hand, 12 parts by weight of an anionic surfactant (manufactured by Rhodia, Dowfax) was dissolved in 250 parts by weight of ion-exchanged water, and the solution was added and dispersed and emulsified in a flask. (Monomer Emulsion A) Further, similarly, 1 part by weight of an anionic surfactant (manufactured by Rhodia, Dowfax) was dissolved in 555 parts by weight of ion-exchanged water and charged into a polymerization flask.
The polymerization flask was sealed, a reflux tube was installed, and the polymerization flask was heated to 75 ° C. with a water bath while being slowly stirred while injecting nitrogen. 9 parts by weight of ammonium persulfate was dissolved in 43 parts by weight of ion-exchanged water and dropped into the polymerization flask via a metering pump over 20 minutes, and then the monomer emulsion A was added for 200 minutes through the metering pump. Add dropwise. Thereafter, the polymerization flask was kept at 75 ° C. for 3 hours while continuing the stirring slowly to complete the polymerization. As a result, an anionic resin particle dispersion having a resin particle central diameter of 210 nm, a glass transition point of 53.5 ° C., a weight average molecular weight of 31,000, and a solid content of 42% was obtained.

(Preparation of colorant particle dispersion (1))
Yellow pigment (Daiichi Seika Kogyo Co., Ltd., CI Pigment Yellow 74)
50 parts by weight Anionic surfactant (Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd., Neogen R) 5 parts by weight Ion-exchanged water 200 parts by weight The above components are mixed and dissolved, and a homogenizer (IKA, Ultra Turrax) is 5 minutes. The dispersion was carried out for 10 minutes by an ultrasonic bath to obtain a yellow colorant particle dispersion (1) having a median diameter of 240 nm and a solid content of 21.5%.

(Preparation of release agent particle dispersion)
Paraffin wax (manufactured by Nippon Seiwa Co., Ltd., HNP9; melting point 70 ° C.) 50 parts by weight Anionic surfactant (Dowfax made by Rhodia) 5 parts by weight Ion-exchanged water 200 parts by weight The above ingredients are heated to 95 ° C. to produce a homogenizer ( After sufficiently dispersing with IKA's Ultra Turrax T50), it is dispersed with a pressure discharge type homogenizer (Gorin homogenizer, Gorin) and a release agent particle dispersion having a median diameter of 180 nm and a solid content of 21.5%. Got.

(Preparation of Toner 1)
Resin particle dispersion (1) 233 parts by weight (42 parts by weight of resin)
Anionic resin particle dispersion 50 parts by weight (21 parts by weight of resin)
Colorant particle dispersion (1) 40 parts by weight (8.6 parts by weight of pigment)
40 parts by weight of release agent particle dispersion (8.6 parts by weight of release agent)
Polyaluminum chloride 0.15 parts by weight Deionized water 300 parts by weight The above components were thoroughly mixed and dispersed in a round stainless steel flask with a homogenizer (IKA, Ultra Tarrax T50), and then heated in an oil bath for heating. The mixture was heated to 42 ° C. with stirring and maintained at 42 ° C. for 60 minutes, and then 50 parts by weight (21 parts by weight of resin) of the resin particle dispersion (1) was added and gently stirred.
Thereafter, the pH in the system was adjusted to 6.0 with a 0.5 mol / liter aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, and then heated to 95 ° C. while stirring was continued.
During the temperature rise to 95 ° C., the pH in the system usually drops to 5.0 or less, but here, an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was added dropwise to keep the pH from being 5.5 or less. .
After completion of the reaction, the mixture was cooled, filtered, sufficiently washed with ion exchange water, and then solid-liquid separated by Nutsche suction filtration. Then, it was redispersed in 3 liters of ion exchange water at 40 ° C., and stirred and washed at 300 rpm for 15 minutes. This washing operation was repeated 5 times, solid-liquid separation was performed by Nutsche suction filtration, and then vacuum drying was performed for 12 hours to obtain toner 1.

<Adjustment and evaluation of developer>
The final toner obtained had an average volume particle size of 6.9 μm. To 100 parts by weight of the obtained toner particles, 1 part by weight of colloidal silica (manufactured by Nippon Aerosil Co., Ltd., R972) was externally added and mixed using a Henschel mixer to obtain an electrostatic image developing toner.
100 parts by weight of ferrite particles (manufactured by Powdertech Co., Ltd., average particle size 50 μm) and 1 part by weight of a methacrylate resin (manufactured by Ryo Rayon Co., Ltd., molecular weight 95,000) are placed in a pressure kneader together with 500 parts by weight of toluene. After mixing for a minute, the temperature was raised to 70 ° C. while mixing under reduced pressure, and toluene was distilled off, followed by cooling and sizing using a 105 μm sieve to prepare a ferrite carrier (resin-coated carrier). This ferrite carrier and the electrostatic image developing toner were mixed to prepare a two-component electrostatic image developer having a toner concentration of 7% by weight.
Using this electrostatic charge image developer, the charging characteristics maintenance characteristics in a high temperature and humidity environment are initially charged, and the absolute value of the charge amount (μC / g) after being left in an environment of 80% RH and 28 ° C. for 1 week is blown off. As a result of measurement and evaluation with a charge amount measuring device, the charging characteristics after one week had a high charging property of 98% or more of the initial value. Furthermore, for fixing and image quality evaluation, image formation was performed using a Docu Center Color500CP remodeling machine manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., and the image quality of the fixing temperature and initial image quality was evaluated. In this case, the fixing temperature is the lowest temperature at which the toner particles form a continuous film layer as the evaluation item, the image quality characteristics are image quality unevenness (visually), and the pencil strength (UNI, hardness H) manufactured by Mitsubishi Pencil Co., Ltd. is measured as the image quality strength. did. As a result, the fixing temperature could be 100 ° C., the image quality unevenness was at a level that was not a problem, and a sufficient image quality intensity was obtained.

(Example 2: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (2))
The same procedure as in Example 1 was conducted except that the basic compound in Example 1 was changed to 0.76 part by weight of dimethylaminopyridine. As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (2) having a median diameter of resin particles of 580 nm, a weight average molecular weight of 3,500, and a solid content of 20% was obtained. When part of the polyester was taken out and freeze-dried, the haze characteristics were evaluated and found to be 3%.

(Preparation of Toner 2)
Toner 2 was prepared in the same manner as toner 1 in Example 1 except that (2) was used instead of (1) as the resin particle dispersion to be used. The obtained toner had an average volume particle diameter of 6.9 μm. Further, as a result of preparing a developer using this toner 2 and evaluating the charging characteristics, fixing, and image quality characteristics in the same manner as in Example 1, there was almost no charge deterioration after being held for 1 week under high temperature and high humidity conditions. The charge retention was 98% or more compared with the initial charge. Further, the fixing temperature was 100 ° C., and the image quality unevenness was at a level with no problem, and sufficient image quality intensity was obtained.

(Example 3: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (3))
The procedure of Example 1 was repeated except that the basic compound was changed to 0.85 part by weight of dimethylbenzylamine in Example 1. As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (3) having a median diameter of the resin particles of 550 nm, a weight average molecular weight of 3,200, and a solid content of 20% was obtained. When part of the polyester was taken out and freeze-dried, the haze characteristics were evaluated and found to be 9%.

(Preparation of Toner 3)
Toner 3 was prepared in the same manner as toner 1 in Example 1 except that (3) was used instead of (1) as the resin particle dispersion used. The obtained toner had an average volume particle diameter of 7.1 μm. Furthermore, as a result of preparing a developer using this toner 3 and evaluating the charging characteristics, fixing, and image quality characteristics in the same manner as in Example 1, there was almost no charge deterioration after being held for 1 week under high temperature and high humidity conditions. The charge retention was 98% or more compared with the initial charge. Further, the fixing temperature was 100 ° C., and the image quality unevenness was at a level with no problem, and sufficient image quality intensity was obtained.

(Example 4: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (4))
1,9-nonanediol 20 parts by weight Dodecanedioic acid 28 parts by weight Dimethylbenzylamine 0.1 part by weight Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid 3 parts by weight Using the above composition, resin particles were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. . As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (4) having a median diameter of the resin particles of 540 nm, a weight average molecular weight of 3,800, and a solid content of 20% was obtained. A part of the polyester was taken out, freeze-dried, and evaluated for haze characteristics. As a result, it was 9%.

(Preparation of Toner 4)
Toner 4 was prepared in the same manner as toner 1 in Example 1 except that (4) was used instead of (1) as the resin particle dispersion used. The obtained toner had an average volume particle diameter of 7.0 μm. Further, as a result of preparing a developer using this toner 4 and evaluating the charging characteristics, fixing, and image quality characteristics in the same manner as in Example 1, there was almost no charge deterioration after being held under high temperature and high humidity conditions for 1 week. Compared to the initial charge, the charge retention was 95% or more. Further, the fixing temperature was 100 ° C., and the image quality unevenness was at a level with no problem, and sufficient image quality intensity was obtained.

(Example 5: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (5))
1,9-nonanediol 20 parts by weight Dodecanedioic acid 28 parts by weight Dimethylbenzylamine 2.2 parts by weight Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid 2 parts by weight Using the above composition, resin particles were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. . As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (5) in which the median diameter of the resin particles was 730 nm, the weight average molecular weight was 2,900, and the solid content was 20% was obtained. A part of the polyester was taken out, freeze-dried, and evaluated for haze characteristics, which was 7%.

(Preparation of Toner 5)
Toner 5 was prepared in the same manner as toner 1 in Example 1 except that (5) was used instead of (1) as the resin particle dispersion used. The obtained toner had an average volume particle diameter of 7.2 μm. Further, as a result of preparing a developer using this toner 5 and evaluating the charging characteristics, fixing, and image quality characteristics in the same manner as in Example 1, there was almost no charge deterioration after being held under high temperature and high humidity conditions for one week. The charge retention was 93% or more compared to the initial charge. Further, the fixing temperature was 100 ° C., and the image quality unevenness was slightly recognized, but it was at a level of no problem in practical use, and sufficient image quality intensity was obtained.

(Comparative Example 1: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (6))
1,9-nonanediol 20 parts by weight Dodecanedioic acid 28 parts by weight Dimethylbenzylamine 0.85 parts by weight Polyoxyethylene lauryl ether (Mw362) 3 parts by weight Using the above composition, a resin was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1. Particles were made. As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (6) having a median diameter of the resin particles of 650 nm, a weight average molecular weight of 1,300, and a solid content of 20% was obtained. A part of the polyester was taken out, freeze-dried, and evaluated for haze characteristics. As a result, it was 10%.

(Preparation of Toner 6)
Toner 6 was prepared in the same manner as toner 1 in Example 1 except that (6) was used instead of (1) as the resin particle dispersion to be used. The obtained toner had an average volume particle diameter of 7.0 μm. Further, a developer was prepared using the toner 6 in the same manner as in Example 1 and the charging characteristics, fixing, and image quality characteristics were evaluated. As a result, the charging deterioration after being kept under high temperature and high humidity conditions for one week was compared with the initial charging. However, although the fixing temperature was 95 ° C., image quality unevenness that was a problem in practical use was observed, and a marked decrease in image strength was observed.

(Comparative Example 2: Preparation of resin particle dispersion (7))
In Example 1, it changed into tetrabutoxy titanium instead of the basic compound. This resin composition was heated to 140 ° C. to melt and maintained at 140 ° C. for 30 hours to be reacted to obtain a polyester resin. The polyester resin was added to 200 parts by weight of water in which 3 parts by weight of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate was dissolved, and dispersed using a homogenizer (manufactured by IKA: Ultra Turrax T50).
As a result, a resin particle dispersion (7) having a median diameter of resin particles of 320 nm, a weight average molecular weight of 3,500, and a solid content of 10% was obtained. When part of the polyester was taken out and freeze-dried, the haze characteristics were evaluated and found to be 12%.

(Preparation of Toner 7)
Toner 7 was prepared in the same manner as toner 1 in Example 1 except that (7) was used instead of (1) as the resin particle dispersion used. The obtained toner had an average volume particle diameter of 6.9 μm. Further, a developer was prepared using the toner 7 in the same manner as in Example 1 and the charging characteristics, fixing, and image quality characteristics were evaluated. As a result, the charging characteristics after being maintained at high temperature and high humidity for 1 week were 30% of the initial values. Remarkable charging deterioration was shown as follows. Further, although the fixing temperature was possible at 100 ° C., image quality unevenness that was a problem in practical use was observed, and sufficient image quality intensity could not be obtained.

  Table 1 below shows the evaluation results of Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2.

(Example 6: Production of resin 8)
Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1mol adduct 31.5 parts by weight Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid 17.0 parts by weight Linear dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) 0.20 parts by weight N, N-dimethylbenzylamine 0.04 parts by weight Were added to a 200 ml reactor equipped with a stirrer, and polycondensation was carried out at 120 ° C. for 24 hours under atmospheric pressure. As a result, a uniform transparent amorphous polyester resin was obtained.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 12,000
Number average molecular weight by GPC 4,900
Glass transition temperature (onset) 52 ° C
Coloring evaluation ○

For the measurement of the molecular weight, the weight average molecular weight Mw and the number average molecular weight Mn were measured by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) under the conditions described below. At a temperature of 40 ° C., a solvent (tetrahydrofuran) is flowed at a flow rate of 1.2 ml / min, and 3 mg of a tetrahydrofuran sample solution having a concentration of 0.2 g / 20 ml is injected as a sample weight for measurement. When measuring the molecular weight of a sample, select the measurement conditions that fall within the range in which the logarithm of the molecular weight of the prepared calibration curve and the count number are linear, using several monodisperse polystyrene standard samples. .
In addition, the reliability of the measurement results is that the NBS706 polystyrene standard sample performed under the above measurement conditions is
Weight average molecular weight Mw = 28.8 × 10 ⁴
Number average molecular weight Mn = 13.7 × 10 ⁴
Can be confirmed.
Further, as the GPC column, TSK-GEL, GMH (manufactured by Toyo Soda Co., Ltd.) and the like satisfying the above conditions were used.

  A differential scanning calorimeter (Shimadzu Corporation, DSC50) was used to measure the glass transition temperature Tg of the polyester.

The coloring of the produced resin was evaluated based on the following two types of samples.
A small amount of the polyester resin before cooling was placed on a transparent glass plate and allowed to cool at room temperature. After cooling and solidifying, the glass plate was placed on a white paper and judged.
On the other hand, the produced resin was pulverized in an agate bowl to produce a resin powder, which was evaluated on a white paper.
The evaluation criteria were as follows.
Completely transparent, pulverized product is white: ◎
Slightly yellowish transparent, pulverized product is milky white to light cream color: ○
The yellowish color can be easily recognized, and the pulverized product is cream to yellow: △
Orange to brown or red, pulverized brown: ×

(Example 7: Production of resin 9)
Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1mol adduct 31.5 parts by weight 1,4-phenylenedipropanoic acid 22.25 parts by weight Linear dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid 0.20 parts by weight 3,5-dimethylpyridine 0.020 parts by weight The above materials were mixed, charged into a 200 ml reactor equipped with a stirrer, and polycondensation was carried out at 120 ° C. for 24 hours under atmospheric pressure. As a result, a uniform transparent amorphous polyester resin was obtained.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 11,130
Number average molecular weight by GPC 4,100
Glass transition temperature (onset) 50 ° C
Coloring evaluation ○

(Example 8: Production of resin 10)
Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1mol adduct 31.5 parts by weight 1,4-phenylenediacetic acid 22.0 parts by weight p-TSA-pyridinium 0.15 parts by weight And polycondensation was carried out at 120 ° C. for 24 hours under atmospheric pressure to obtain a uniform transparent amorphous polyester resin. In addition, p-TSA represents p-toluenesulfonic acid.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 10,850
Number average molecular weight by GPC 3,900
Glass transition temperature (onset) 50 ° C
Coloring evaluation ○

(Example 9: Production of resin 11)
The following materials were mixed and reacted at 80 ° C. for 12 hours for salt exchange to produce an acid-base composite salt type catalyst (1).
Chlorobenzenesulfonic acid (Mw: 192.6) 4.8 parts by weight Cetylpyridinium chloride (CP, Mw: 339.99) 8.5 parts by weight When the above materials are mixed in a test tube and stirred at 80 ° C., hydrogen chloride gas There has occurred. When the mixture was further stirred for 12 hours, gas generation was stopped and a white chlorobenzenesulfonic acid and cetylpyridinium composite catalyst was obtained.

Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1mol adduct 31.5 parts by weight Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid 17.0 parts by weight Acid-base complex salt type catalyst (1) 0.19 parts by weight A 200 ml reactor equipped with the above materials and equipped with a stirrer And polycondensation was carried out at 120 ° C. for 24 hours under atmospheric pressure to obtain a uniform transparent amorphous polyester resin.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 12,850
Number average molecular weight by GPC 4,990
Glass transition temperature (onset) 52 ° C
Coloring evaluation ○

(Example 10: Production of resin 12)
Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1 mol adduct 31.5 parts by weight Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid 17.0 parts by weight p-TSA-pyridinium 3.75 parts by weight (7.5 mol%)
The above materials were mixed, put into a 200 ml reactor equipped with a stirrer, and subjected to polycondensation at 120 ° C. for 24 hours under atmospheric pressure. As a result, a uniform transparent amorphous polyester resin was obtained.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 5,900
Number average molecular weight by GPC 2,700
Glass transition temperature 50 ° C
Coloring evaluation ○

(Example 11: Production of resin 13)
Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1mol adduct 38.0 parts by weight Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid 20.5 parts by weight Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (hard type, Taca Power B120 manufactured by Teika)
0.002 part by weight N, N-dimethylbenzylamine 0.0001 part by weight The above materials were mixed, put into a 200 ml reactor equipped with a stirrer, and subjected to polycondensation at 120 ° C. under atmospheric pressure for 24 hours. As a result, a uniform amorphous polyester resin slightly yellowish was obtained.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 4,900
Number average molecular weight by GPC 2,580
Glass transition temperature 40 ℃
Coloring evaluation △

(Comparative Example 3: Production of resin 14)
Bisphenol A-Ethylene oxide 1mol adduct 31.5 parts by weight Cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid 17.0 parts by weight Linear dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid 0.20 parts by weight The above materials are mixed and charged into a 200 ml reactor equipped with a stirrer. When polycondensation was carried out at 120 ° C. for 24 hours under atmospheric pressure, an amorphous polyester resin colored yellow and slightly turbid was obtained.
A small sample was taken and the following physical properties were measured.
Weight average molecular weight by GPC 10,850
Number average molecular weight by GPC 4,250
Glass transition temperature 51 ℃
Coloring evaluation ×

  Table 2 below shows the evaluation results of the resins of Examples 6 to 11 and Comparative Example 3.

(Preparation of resin particle dispersion)
830 parts by weight of the above resin 8 was put into a three-necked flask equipped with a stirrer and a condenser, and stirring was continued while gradually adding a 1N NaOH aqueous solution while maintaining the temperature at 95 ° C. When 50 parts by weight of NaOH aqueous solution was added in total, the resin became a slurry. This slurry was put into a flask adjusted to 85 parts by weight of ion-exchanged water at 85 ° C., emulsified with a homogenizer (manufactured by IKA, Ultra Tarrax) for 10 minutes, and further subjected to 10 in an ultrasonic bath. The mixture was emulsified for minutes and the flask was cooled with room temperature water. As a result, a polyester resin particle dispersion (8) having a resin median diameter of 450 nm was obtained.
Resin particle dispersions (9) to (14) are prepared for the above resins 9 to 14 by the same method, and the median diameter of the resin particles is measured by a laser diffraction particle size distribution analyzer (LA-920, manufactured by Horiba, Ltd.). It measured using.

  A toner was prepared using the resin particle dispersion prepared as described above.

(Preparation of release agent particle dispersion (2))
Polyethylene wax 30 parts by weight (manufactured by Toyo Petrolite, Polywax 725, melting point 103 ° C.)
3 parts by weight of a cationic surfactant (manufactured by Kao Corporation, Sanizol B50) 67 parts by weight of ion-exchange water Dispersion treatment was carried out using a discharge type homogenizer (Gorin homogenizer, manufactured by Gorin Co., Ltd.) to prepare a release agent particle dispersion (2). The number average particle diameter D _50n of the release agent particles in the obtained dispersion was 460 nm. Thereafter, ion exchange water was added to adjust the solid concentration of the dispersion to 30%.

(Preparation of colorant particle dispersion (2))
Cyan pigment (Daiichi Seika Kogyo Co., Ltd., CI Pigment Blue 15: 3)
20 parts by weight Anionic surfactant (Daiichi Kogyo Seiyaku Co., Ltd., Neogen R) 2 parts by weight Ion exchange water 78 parts by weight The above components were prepared in the same manner as in the colorant particle dispersion (1), and colorant particles A dispersion (2) was obtained. The number average particle diameter D _50n of the pigment in the dispersion was 121 nm. Thereafter, ion exchange water was added to adjust the solid content concentration of the dispersion to 15%.

(Toner Example 4: Preparation of toner using resin particle dispersion (8))
<Preparation of Cyan Toner (Toner 8)>
Resin particle dispersion (8) 120 parts by weight Anionic resin particle dispersion 40 parts by weight Release agent particle dispersion (2) 33 parts by weight Colorant particle dispersion (2) 60 parts by weight Polyaluminum chloride 10% by weight aqueous solution 15 Weight parts (PAC100W manufactured by Asada Chemical Co., Ltd.)
3% by weight of 1% nitric acid aqueous solution The above components were dispersed in a round stainless steel flask using a homogenizer (manufactured by LKA, Ultra Turrax T50) at 5,000 rpm for 3 minutes, and then the flask was magnetically sealed. The lid is equipped with a stirring device, a thermometer and a pH meter, and a heating mantle heater is set, and the whole dispersion in the flask is appropriately adjusted to the minimum number of revolutions to be stirred and stirred. The mixture was heated to 1 ° C. at 1 ° C./1 min, held at 62 ° C. for 30 minutes, and the particle size of the aggregated particles was confirmed with a Coulter counter (manufactured by Nikka Machine Co., Ltd., TA II). Immediately after the temperature rise was stopped, 50 parts by weight of the resin particle dispersion (8) was added and held for 30 minutes, and then an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was added until the pH in the system reached 6.5, and then at 1 ° C./1 min. Heated to 97 ° C. After the temperature rise, an aqueous nitric acid solution was added to adjust the pH in the system to 5.0, and the aggregated particles were heated and fused by holding for 10 hours. Thereafter, the temperature in the system was lowered to 50 ° C., an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution was added to adjust the pH to 12.0, and the mixture was maintained for 10 minutes. After removing from the flask, sufficiently filtering with ion-exchanged water and washing with water, dispersed in ion-exchanged water so that the solid content becomes 10% by weight, and added with nitric acid and stirred at pH 3.0 for 10 minutes. Then, the slurry obtained by sufficiently filtering and washing with water through ion exchange water again was freeze-dried to obtain a cyan toner (toner 8).

Silica colored particles, silica (SiO ₂ ) fine particles having an average primary particle size of 40 nm, surface-hydrophobized with hexamethyldisilazane (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as “HMDS”), metatitanic acid and isobutyltrimethoxysilane 1 wt% each of the metatitanic acid compound fine particles having an average primary particle diameter of 20 nm, which is the reaction product, was mixed with a Henschel mixer to prepare a cyan externally added toner.
The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ of the toner thus prepared was 5.9 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.23, and the shape factor of the toner particles was 128.
Accumulated volume average particle of the toner diameter D ₅₀ and the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv of a laser diffraction particle size distribution analyzer (manufactured by Horiba, Ltd., LA-700), also the shape factor was calculated respectively by the shape observation with a LUZEX.

(Toner Example 7)
Cyan colored particles were obtained in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 except that the resin particle dispersion (8) was replaced with (9). The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ was 5.8 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.23, and the shape factor was 130. An external additive was externally added to this toner in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 to obtain a cyan externally added toner.

(Toner Example 8)
Cyan colored particles were obtained in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 except that the resin particle dispersion was changed from (8) to (10). The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ was 5.9 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.22, and the shape factor was 127. An external additive was externally added to this toner in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 to obtain a cyan externally added toner.

(Toner Example 9)
Cyan colored particles were obtained in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 except that the resin particle dispersion (8) was replaced with (11). The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ was 5.8 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.23, and the shape factor was 129. An external additive was externally added to this toner in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 to obtain a cyan externally added toner.

(Toner Example 10)
Cyan colored particles were obtained in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 except that the resin particle dispersion (8) was replaced with (12). The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ was 6.1 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.25, and the shape factor was 125. An external additive was externally added to this toner in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 to obtain a cyan externally added toner.

(Toner Example 11)
Cyan colored particles were obtained in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 except that the resin particle dispersion (8) was replaced with (13). The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ was 6.2 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.25, and the shape factor was 126. An external additive was externally added to this toner in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 to obtain a cyan externally added toner.

(Toner Comparative Example 3: Preparation of toner using resin particle dispersion (14))
Cyan colored particles were obtained in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 except that the resin particle dispersion (8) was replaced with (14). The cumulative volume average particle diameter D ₅₀ was 5.9 μm, the volume average particle size distribution index GSDv was 1.23, and the shape factor was 127. An external additive was externally added to this toner in the same manner as in Toner Example 6 to obtain a cyan externally added toner.

<Creation of carrier>
A methanol solution containing 0.1 part by weight of γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane was added to 100 parts by weight of Cu—Zn ferrite fine particles having a volume average particle diameter of 40 μm and coated with a kneader. The silane compound was completely cured by heating at 0 ° C. for 2 hours. To this particle, a perfluorooctylethyl methacrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer (copolymerization ratio 40:60) dissolved in toluene was added, and perfluorooctylethyl methacrylate-methyl was added using a vacuum reduced pressure kneader. A resin-coated carrier was produced so that the coating amount of the methacrylate copolymer was 0.5% by weight.

<Production of developer>
4 parts by weight of each toner prepared as described above was mixed with 100 parts by weight of the obtained resin-coated carrier to prepare an electrostatic charge image developer. This was used as a developer in the following evaluation.

  Using the cyan developers prepared as described above, the following evaluations on developability were performed.

<Developability evaluation under high temperature and high humidity>
Using the developers of Examples and Comparative Examples obtained as described above, high temperature and high humidity (28 ° C., 85%) by an electrophotographic copying machine (manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Docu Center Color500CP modified machine). 20,000) in a RH) environment. Specific evaluation items and details thereof are as follows.

<Image quality evaluation>
The image at the end of the 20,000 copy test was visually observed for the degree of fogging, the halftone image, the solid image, and the degree of defect at the boundary, and the image quality was evaluated using the following evaluation indices.
○: No fog or defect.
Δ: Some fog and / or defect.
X: Fog and / or defect is conspicuous.
Fog and defect appear when the fluidity decreases, the chargeability of each particle tends to be insufficient, and the charge distribution is widened. When a Brönsted acid compound is used as in the present invention, the toner fluidity deteriorates particularly at high temperatures and high humidity, and the charge tends to be non-uniform. However, when a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound are used in combination, or a salt compound-forming catalyst is used, the free Bronsted acid compound remaining in the resin is reduced, and the fluidity at high temperature and high humidity is improved. It can be assumed that there is an effect.

<Eye evaluation>
With respect to the halftone images and solid images at the end of the 20,000 copy tests, the eyes were visually observed, and the eyes were evaluated using the following evaluation indices. For the evaluation of the color, a formula guide solid mat made by PANTONE was used.
: Corresponds to PANTONE277M-293M, 27n7M (n = 0-6), 27n8M (n = 0-6), 072M, ReflexBlue.
Δ: Corresponds to the range of PANTONE294M to PANTONE295M, 27n6M (n = 0-6), 27n5M (n = 0-6).
X: Corresponds to a color other than the above.
When yellow coloring is observed in the toner binder resin, the hue becomes a color corresponding to PANTONE294M to PANTONE295M or 27n5M (n = 0-6), which is slightly greener than the original cyan, and coloring such as reddish brown If found, it is considered to be a color similar to 27n6M (n = 0-6), which is more reddish than the original hue.

  Table 3 below shows the evaluation results of the toners of Examples 6 to 11 and Comparative Example 3.

(White resin toner Example 12: Production of white resin using resin 8)
Resin 8 100 parts by weight Titanium oxide (CR60, manufactured by Ishihara Sangyo Co., Ltd.) 5 parts by weight Aliphatic hydrocarbon-aromatic hydrocarbon copolymerized petroleum resin (C5 petroleum fraction (isoprene) / C5 petroleum fraction (piperylene) ) / Isopropenyltoluene = monomer weight ratio (1.5 / 1.5 / 97)) 10 parts by weight Polypropylene wax (P200, manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals) 4 parts by weight Polyethylene wax (PE130, manufactured by Clariant Japan) 1 part by weight The mixture of the above components was melt-kneaded for 5 minutes with a Banbury mixer, then rolled / cooled, coarsely pulverized with a hammer mill, finely pulverized with a jet mill, classified with an air classifier, and a volume average particle size of 8.0 μm. Toner base particles were obtained. To 100 parts by weight of the toner base particles, 1.0 part by weight of titanium oxide and 0.3 part by weight of hydrophobic silica were mixed with a Henschel mixer to obtain a toner. Further, 6 parts by weight of the toner and 100 parts by weight of a carrier having a particle diameter of 50 μm, in which a ferrite core was coated with 2% styrene-acrylic resin, were mixed to obtain a developer.

(White resin toner Examples 13 to 17 and Comparative Example 4)
Toner Examples 13 to 17 and Comparative Example 4 were prepared in the same manner as in Toner Example 12 except that Resin 9 was replaced with Resins 10 to 14, respectively. Similarly, a developer was prepared.

  Using the developers of Examples 12 to 17 and Comparative Example 4 prepared as described above, a solid patch of 2 cm × 2 cm was prepared with an electrophotographic copying machine (manufactured by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., Docu Center Color500CP remodeling machine). The whiteness was evaluated. The paper is A4 size white paper (F-Xerox office supply, P-A4 paper) as plain paper, and A4 size coated paper (Fuji Xerox office supply, JD coated paper, width: 210 mm, length: 297 mm as coating paper) , Reflectivity: 0.82).

<Evaluation of whiteness>
The white image formed on each sheet was evaluated based on the following evaluation method and evaluation criteria.
Evaluation of whiteness ○: A level where there is no problem in distinguishing the texture of paper.
Δ: Some image quality noise is confirmed against the texture.
X: A clear image quality noise is confirmed with respect to the texture.

  Table 4 below shows the evaluation results of the toners of the white resin toner examples 12 to 17 and the comparative example 4.

Claims (7)

A process for producing a polyester, comprising a step of obtaining a polyester by polycondensation of a polycondensable monomer using at least a basic compound and a Bronsted acid compound or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound. At least a Bronsted acid compound and a basic compound are used in a molar ratio of 1: 0.1 to 1: 2, or a salt of a Bronsted acid compound is used and a polycondensable monomer is polycondensed to form a polyester. A process for producing a polyester comprising the step of: A resin particle dispersion in which resin particles containing at least polyester are dispersed in a dispersion medium,
A resin particle dispersion comprising the polyester produced by the production method according to claim 1 or 2. A step of aggregating the resin particles in a dispersion containing at least a resin particle dispersion to obtain aggregated particles; and
A method for producing an electrostatic image developing toner comprising a step of heating and aggregating the aggregated particles,
The method for producing an electrostatic charge image developing toner, wherein the resin particle dispersion is the resin particle dispersion according to claim 3.   An electrostatic charge image developing toner produced by the production method according to claim 4.   An electrostatic image developer comprising the electrostatic image developing toner according to claim 5 and a carrier. A latent image forming step for forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the latent image holding member;
A developing step of developing the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member with a developer containing toner to form a toner image;
A transfer step of transferring the toner image formed on the surface of the latent image holding member to the surface of the transfer target; and
An image forming method comprising a fixing step of thermally fixing the toner image transferred to the surface of the transfer material,
An image forming method using the electrostatic charge image developing toner according to claim 5 as the toner, or the electrostatic charge image developer according to claim 6 as the developer.