JP2580152B2 - Electrophotographic photoreceptor - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an improvement in an electrophotographic photoreceptor having a layer in which a charge generating substance is dispersed.

(Prior art)

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an electrophotographic photoconductor provided with a charge generation layer in which various resins are blended together with a charge generation material has been known. Examples of such resins include polyvinyl butyral (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-105154), fatty acid cellulose ester (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-166353), and an acrylic resin having a Tg of 70 ° C. or less and an acid value of 10 to 40 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-192040), a mixture of a resin having a Tg of 70 ° C. or lower and a resin having a Tg of 75 ° C. or higher (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-19 / 1983).
No. 3549), a resin-solvent system having lower compatibility with the charge-generating material-resin-solvent system and redispersion (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
-12646), polyvinylpyrrolidone (JP-A-56-11314)
No. 0), polyvinyl folimar resin (JP-A-61-235844)
No.) and the like.

However, conventionally known photoconductors have a problem that the sensitivity and the chargeability against pre-exposure fatigue vary depending on the mixing ratio of the charge generating substance and the binder resin.

That is, the conventional photoreceptor can increase the sensitivity by reducing the amount of the binder resin used for the charge generating substance, but the chargeability with respect to the pre-exposure fatigue becomes remarkable,
Conversely, if the amount of the binder resin used relative to the charge generating substance is increased, a decrease in the chargeability due to pre-exposure fatigue can be suppressed, but the problem that the sensitivity is significantly reduced is included.

Further, the conventional photoreceptor also has a drawback that the charging potential is significantly reduced when charging and exposure are repeated.

〔Purpose〕

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrophotographic photoreceptor which has high sensitivity, has a remarkably small reduction in chargeability due to pre-exposure fatigue, and has a charge potential which does not decrease even when charging and exposure are repeated.

〔Constitution〕

According to the present invention, there is provided an electrophotographic photoreceptor having at least a layer in which a charge generating substance is dispersed on a conductive support, wherein the layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed contains polypropylene glycol monoether. A photoreceptor is provided.

Since the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention contains polypropylene glycol monoether in the layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed, the photoreceptor has high sensitivity and a remarkably small reduction in chargeability due to pre-exposure fatigue. This has a remarkable effect that the charged potential does not decrease even when the above is repeated.

Generally, the chargeability of a highly sensitive photoreceptor is reduced due to pre-exposure fatigue. In the pre-exposure fatigue, as the time during which charges generated by light absorption remain in the photosensitive member in a movable state and the number of the charges are increased, the chargeability due to the pre-exposure fatigue is remarkably reduced. That is, even if the charging operation is performed in a state where the charge generated by the light absorption remains, the surface charge is neutralized by the movement of the remaining carrier, so that the surface potential does not increase until the residual charge is consumed. Therefore, the rise of the surface potential is delayed by the amount of the pre-exposure fatigue, and the apparent charging potential is lowered.

The present inventors have intensively studied to improve this point, and as a result, have found that if the layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed contains polypropylene glycol monoether, the above-mentioned disadvantages can be solved, and the present invention has been completed. Was.

Although the reason why the present invention has such a remarkable function and effect is not always clear at the present time, since the polypropylene glycol monoether is chemically adsorbed on the charge generating substance and becomes a recombination center of the charge generated by light absorption, the pre-exposure is performed. This is probably because the charge generated by the fatigue is quickly recombined and the charge disappears, thereby suppressing a decrease in the charged potential of the photoconductor.

Further, since the effect on the pre-exposure fatigue as described above also appears during actual use in which charging and exposure are repeated, the electrophotographic photoreceptor according to the present invention is more electrically charged than the conventional one. Even when the exposure is repeated, the decrease in the charged potential is remarkably small.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 4 are drawings for explaining a typical layer structure of the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a structure in which a charge generation layer 1 and a charge transfer layer 2 are sequentially laminated on a conductive support 3, and FIG. 2 shows a structure in which the charge generation layer 1 and the charge transfer layer 2 are laminated in FIG. The charge generation layer 1 is formed by a coating method that does not disturb the charge transfer layer 2, such as a spray coating method.

FIG. 3 is different from the laminated photosensitive layer of FIGS.
1 shows a photoconductor composed of a single-layer type photosensitive layer having a charge generation function and a charge transfer function in one layer.

FIG. 4 shows a structure in which an undercoat layer 5 is provided between the conductive support 3 and the charge generation layer 1 in FIG. Such an undercoat layer 5 can be similarly applied to the structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

When the undercoat layer is intended to prevent light interference in a photoreceptor for a laser printer, a light-scattering undercoat layer or a light-absorbing undercoat layer is used. A resin undercoat layer such as polyamide, polyester, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, or polyvinyl butyral having good properties is used.

Next, each constituent material used in the present invention will be described.

The conductive support is intended to supply a charge having a polarity opposite to that of the charged charge to the substrate side, and has an electric resistance of
A material having a resistivity of 10 ⁸ Ωcm or less and capable of withstanding the conditions for forming the charge generation layer, the charge transfer layer, and the undercoat layer can be used. Examples of such materials include electrically conductive metals and alloys such as Al, Ni, Cr, Zn, and stainless steel; inorganic insulating materials such as glass and ceramics; and organic insulating materials such as polyester, polyimide, phenolic resin, nylon resin, and paper. The surface of the material is vacuum-evaporated, sputtered, spray-painted, etc., using Al, Ni, Cr, Zn, stainless steel, carbon,
Examples thereof include those obtained by coating an electrically conductive substance such as SnO ₂ or In ₂ O ₃ and performing a conductive treatment.

The layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed is constituted as a charge generating layer in the laminated photosensitive layer as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, and a single layer type as shown in FIG. In the photosensitive layer, it is formed in the photosensitive layer.

In the multilayer photosensitive layer, the charge generation layer is composed of a charge generation substance and a resin binder.

In the present invention, a polypropylene glycol monoether represented by the following general formula (I) is used as the resin binder.

During _{R-OC 3 H 6 O n} H (I) ( wherein, R is an alkyl group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, preferably an alkyl group having 10 to 20 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, preferably a carbon number 1 to 20 alkyl-substituted phenyl groups, n represents an average number of moles added, and represents a real number of 1 or more, preferably 5 to 100.) Specific examples of such a polypropylene glycol monoether include Sanyo Chemical Industries New Pole Co., Ltd.
LB-65, New Pole L285, New Pole LB385, New Pole LBB625, New Pole L1145, New Pole LB1
715, New Pole LB3000, New Pole LB300X, New Pole LB400XY, New Pole LB650X, New Pole L
1800X and the like.

The layer in which the charge generating substance of the present invention is dispersed contains polypropylene glycol monoether as a resin binder. If necessary, another resin binder used for this type of charge generating layer may be used in combination.

Such resin binders include polystyrene,
Styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer,
Polyester, polyvinyl chloride, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyacrylate resin, phenoxy resin, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate resin, ethyl cellulose resin, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl toluene, poly- Thermoplastic or thermosetting resins such as N-vinyl carbazole, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol resin, and alkyd resin.

The total amount of the binder resin is 100
It is suitably used in an amount of 0.01 to 200 parts by weight, preferably 1 to 50 parts by weight based on parts by weight. Further, it is necessary to contain the polypropylene glycol monoether in an amount of at least 0.01 part by weight, preferably 1 part by weight or more based on 100 parts by weight of the charge generating substance.

Examples of the charge generating substance include C.I. Pigment Blue 25 (Color Index (CI) 21180), C.I. Pigment Red 41 (CI 21200), C.I. Red 52 (CI. 45100), and C.I.
45210), a phthalocyanine pigment having a porphyrin skeleton, an azulenium salt pigment, a squaric salt pigment, and an azo pigment having a carbazole skeleton (JP-A-53-9553).
033), azo pigments having a stilstilbene skeleton (described in JP-A-53-138229), azo pigments having a triphenylamine skeleton (described in JP-A-53-132547), dibenzothiophene Azo pigments having a skeleton (described in JP-A-54-21728), azo pigments having an oxadiazole skeleton (described in JP-A-54-12742), and azo pigments having a fluorenone skeleton (described in JP-A-54-12742) −
No. 22834), an azo pigment having a bisstilbene skeleton (described in JP-A-54-17733), and an azo pigment having a distyryloxadiazole skeleton (described in JP-A-54-21)
No. 29), azo pigments having a distyrylcarbazole skeleton (described in JP-A-54-17734), and triazo pigments having a carbazole skeleton (JP-A-57-195767 and 57-195768) Phthalocyanine pigments such as C.I. Pigment Blue 16 (CI 74100), indigo pigments such as C.I.Bat Brown 5 (CI 73410), C.I. ), And organic pigments such as perylene pigments such as Induration Scarlet R (manufactured by Bayer AG).

Among these charge generating substances, azo pigments are particularly preferred, and among the azo pigments, the following disazo pigments or trisazo pigments are most preferred.

 Specific examples of the azo pigment are shown below.

The thickness of the charge generation layer 1 is suitably about 0.05 to 2 μm, and preferably 0.1 to 1 μm.

The charge generation layer 1 can be formed by dissolving or dispersing a resin binder and a charge generation substance in an appropriate solvent, and applying and drying this. As a solvent, benzene, toluene, xylene, methylene chloride, dichloroethane, monochlorobenzene, dichlorobenzene, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, dioxane, tetrahydrofuran, cyclohexanone, methyl cellosolve, ethyl cellosolve, etc. may be used alone or in combination. it can.

The charge transfer layer 2 is formed by dissolving or dispersing a charge transfer material and a resin binder in an appropriate solvent,
It can be formed by coating and drying on the top. If necessary, a plasticizer or a leveling agent can be added.

Examples of charge transfer materials include poly-N-vinylcarbazole and its derivatives, poly-γ-carbazolylethylglutamate and its derivatives, pyrene-formaldehyde condensate and its derivatives, polyvinylpyrene, polyvinylphenanthrene, oxazole derivatives, oxadiazole Derivatives, imidazole derivatives, triphenylamine derivatives, 9- (p-diethylaminostyryl) anthracene, 1,1-bis- (4-dibenzylaminophenyl) propane, styrylanthracene, styrylpyrazolin, phenylhydrazones, α-phenyl Electron donating substances such as stilbene derivatives;

Examples of the resin binder include polystyrene, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer, styrene-butadiene copolymer, styrene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, and vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer used in the charge generation layer. Coalescence, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyacrylate resin, phenoxy resin, polycarbonate, cellulose acetate resin, ethyl cellulose resin, ponivinyl butyral, polyvinyl formal, polyvinyl toluene, poly-N-vinyl carbazole, acrylic resin, silicone resin, epoxy Thermoplastic or thermosetting resins such as resin, melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol resin, and alkyd resin.

As the solvent at this time, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, toluene, monochlorobenzene, dichloroethane, methylene chloride and the like can be used.

The thickness of the charge transfer layer 2 is suitably about 5 to 100 μm.

In the case where the layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed is a single-layer type photosensitive layer as shown in FIG. 3, the charge generating substance used in the charge generating layer, polypropylene glycol monoether, resin binder, and By mixing the charge transfer materials used in the charge transfer layer described above, the coating solution is applied to a conductive support or the like and dried to form a coating.

Further, in the present invention, as described above, an undercoat layer can be provided between the conductive support and the photosensitive layer, if necessary.

The light-scattering subbing layer and the light-absorbing subbing layer are layers for preventing light interference in the photoreceptor for a printer as described above. The light-scattering undercoat layer is formed by dispersing a conductive powder such as tin oxide and antimony oxide and a white pigment such as zinc oxide, zinc sulfide and titanium oxide in the following thermosetting resin. The light-absorbing undercoat layer is formed by dispersing a conductive light-absorbing pigment such as carbon and various metals and / or a light-absorbing organic pigment in a similar thermosetting resin. The thermosetting resin used here is, for example, active hydrogen (-OH group,-
It is obtained by thermally polymerizing a compound containing a plurality of hydrogens such as NH ₂ and —NH groups, and a compound containing a plurality of isocyanate groups and / or a compound containing a plurality of epoxy groups. Examples of the compound containing a plurality of active hydrogens include, for example, acrylic resins containing active hydrogens such as polyvinyl butyral, phenoxy resin, phenol resin, polyamide, polyester, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polybutylene glycol, and hydroxyethyl methacrylate groups. And the like. Examples of the compound having a plurality of isocyanate groups include tolylene diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate, diphenylmethane diisocyanate, and prepolymers thereof, and examples of the compound having a plurality of epoxy groups include bisphenol A type epoxy resin. can give.

In any case, the light-scattering or light-absorbing undercoat layer is applied on a substrate with a solution obtained by dissolving or dispersing the above components on a substrate.
It is formed by thermal polymerization at 200 ° C. The thickness of the undercoat layer is preferably -1 to 10 µm. The weight ratio of the conductive powder, the white pigment and the thermosetting resin is 2 to 6/1 to 5/2 to 6
And the weight ratio of the light-absorbing pigment to the thermosetting resin is suitably from 4 to 9/1 to 6.

〔effect〕

Since the electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention contains polypropylene glycol monoether in the layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed, the photoreceptor has high sensitivity and a remarkably small reduction in chargeability due to pre-exposure fatigue. This has a remarkable effect that the charged potential does not decrease even when the above is repeated.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

Example 1 [Coating liquid for charge generation layer] 5 parts by weight of an azo pigment (pigment No. 1) shown in Table 1 and polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether [Newpole
LB 1800X, Sanyo Chemical Co., Ltd., 160 parts by weight of a 0.39% by weight cyclohexanone solution having an average molecular weight of 2400] was mixed in a ball mill for 72 hours to obtain a pigment dispersion.
To 100 parts by weight, 90 parts by weight of methyl ethyl ketone was additionally mixed with stirring to prepare a charge generating layer coating liquid.

(Coating liquid for charge transfer layer)

α-phenylstilbene-based charge transfer material (the following compound) 100 parts by weight Polycarbonate (trade name, Panlite C 1400: Teijin Limited) 100 parts by weight Silicone oil (trade name, KF 50: Shin-Etsu Silicone Co., Ltd.)
1 part by weight of tetrahydrofuran 800 parts by weight Next, the above-mentioned coating liquid for a charge generation layer was coated on a 75 μm polyester film substrate on which Al was vacuum-deposited, and dried by heating at 120 ° C. for 10 minutes to about 0.2 μm. A charge generation layer was formed. Next, the charge transfer layer coating solution having the above composition was coated on the charge generation layer with a blade, and dried by heating at 120 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a charge transfer layer having a thickness of about 20 μm.

Example 2 A photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the azo pigment of the coating solution for the charge generation layer was changed to Pigment No. 39.

Example 3 A coating solution for a charge transfer layer used in Example 1 was coated on a 75 μm polyester film substrate on which Al was vacuum-deposited with a blade in the same manner as in Example 1, and then dried to transfer a charge of about 20 μm. A layer was formed. Then, the coating liquid for a charge generation layer used in Example 1 was spray-coated on the charge transfer layer, and dried by heating at 120 ° C. for 30 minutes to form a charge generation layer of about 0.2 μm. Created.

Example 4 A photoconductor was prepared by the same way as that of Example 1 except that the α-phenylstilbene compound in the coating solution for the charge transfer layer was changed to a compound having the following structure.

Examples 5 and 6 90 parts by weight of methyl ethyl ketone used for preparing a coating solution for a charge generation layer was polyvinyl butyral (trade name: XYHL,
90 parts by weight of a 0.43% by weight methyl ethyl ketone solution (manufactured by Union Carbide Plastics Co., Ltd.), and polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether in Newpole LB 65
(Average molecular weight: 340, manufactured by Sanyo Chemical Co., Ltd.) A photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Examples 1 and 2, respectively.

Example 7 Fine powder of tin oxide containing 10% by weight of antimony oxide 8
Parts by weight, 5 parts by weight of titanium oxide white pigment powder and 68 parts by weight of a 12% by weight solution of polyvinyl butyral (trade name: BL-1, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) in a methyl ethyl ketone were treated with a ball mill for 72 hours, and then 47 parts by weight of methyl ethyl ketone An additional portion was added to the ball mill for 48 hours. Next, while stirring 80 parts by weight of the pigment dispersion, 8 parts by weight of a 20% by weight solution of tolylene diisocyanate in methyl ethyl ketone was added and mixed to obtain an undercoat layer coating liquid for light scattering.

Next, the above-mentioned undercoat layer coating solution for light scattering was coated on a 75 μm polyester film substrate on which Al was vacuum-deposited with a blade, and heated and cured at 120 ° C. for 30 minutes to form an undercoat layer for light scattering of about 2.5 μm. Was formed.

Next, a photoreceptor having a charge generation layer and a charge transfer layer formed on the light scattering subbing layer in the same manner as in Example 2 was prepared.

Comparative Examples 1-2 Polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether as a coating solution for the charge generation layer was replaced with polyvinyl butyral (trade name: XYH
L, manufactured by Union Carbide Plastics Co., Ltd.).

Comparative Example 3 Polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether as a coating solution for the charge generation layer was replaced with polyvinyl butyral (trade name: XYH
L, manufactured by Union Carbide Plastics Co., Ltd.), and a photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 3.

Comparative Example 4 Polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether as the coating solution for the charge generation layer was replaced with polyvinyl butyral (trade name: XYH
L, manufactured by Union Carbide Plastics Co., Ltd.), and a photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 4.

Comparative Example 5 Polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether as a coating liquid for a charge generation layer was converted to a polyester (trade name: Byron 20).
0, manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd.), and a photoconductor was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2.

Comparative Example 6 Example except that a 0.39% by weight solution of polypropylene glycol monobutyl ether in cyclohexanone at the time of preparing the coating liquid for the charge generation layer was changed to a 5.88% by weight cyclohexanone solution of polyvinyl butyral (trade name: XYHL, manufactured by Union Carbide Plastics). A photosensitive member was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1.

The electrophotographic photoreceptor prepared as described above was evaluated for electrophotographic characteristics as follows using an electrostatic copying paper test apparatus (Kawaguchi Electric Mfg. Co., Ltd., Model SP 428). First, a -6 KV corona discharge was applied to each photoconductor for 20 seconds, during which a charge potential V ₂ (volt) 2 seconds after the start of corona discharge was measured.
Thereafter, when the device was left in a dark place and the surface potential became -800 V, it was irradiated with tungsten light, and an exposure amount S (lux sec) required for light attenuation of the surface potential to -400 V was obtained. After that, tungsten light with a color temperature of 2856 K
After the irradiation, the charged potential V ₂ ′ after the light fatigue is again applied as described above.
(Volt) and the exposure amount S ′ (lux sec) were obtained. Table 1 shows the above results.

In addition, the type photoreceptor shown in FIG.
The charging was performed for 0 seconds, during which time the charged potential V ₂ was measured 2 seconds after the start of corona discharge, and then left in a dark place to increase the surface potential to +80.
When the voltage reached 0 V, the substrate was irradiated with tungsten light, and an exposure amount S required for the surface potential to attenuate to +400 V was obtained. Then, after the irradiation of 100,000 lux sec, the charged position V ₂ ′ and the exposure amount S ′ after light fatigue were obtained in the same manner as described above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 to 4 are schematic sectional views of various electrophotographic photosensitive members according to the present invention. 1; charge generation layer 2; charge transfer layer 3; conductive support 4; single-layer photosensitive layer 5; undercoat layer

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Toshio Fukagai 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor: Takeshi Taniguchi 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company (56) References JP-A-63-206755 (JP, A) JP-A-63-206762 (JP, A) JP-A-50-21048 (JP, A) JP-A-63-220151 (JP, A) A) JP-A-63-220153 (JP, A) JP-A-63-220154 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An electrophotographic photoreceptor having at least a layer in which a charge generating substance is dispersed on a conductive support, wherein the layer in which the charge generating substance is dispersed contains polypropylene glycol monoether. Photoreceptor.