JPH03259264A - Manufacture of electrographic photosensitive body - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a high-definition output image with less image flaws by washing a surface of a conductive substrate with a weak alkaline cleaning solution while adding stress with a wiping material. CONSTITUTION:The surface of the conductive substrate composed of an Al alloy where an anodic oxide film is formed on it is cleaned by the weak alkaline cleaning solution while adding the stress with the wiping material. Then, a sensitive layer incorporating an organic photoconductive material is formed on the substrate surface to produce a sensitive body. By washing with the weak alkaline cleaning solution while adding the stress with the wiping material, foreign matters and stains which are difficult to eliminate hitherto, can be removed and then the cleanness of the substrate surface is largely improved. Thus, the sensitive material with less image flaws is obtained.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an organic electrophotographic photoreceptor used in electrophotographic application devices such as plain paper copying machines and laser beam printers. The present invention relates to a method for cleaning the surface of a conductive substrate before layer formation.

[Conventional technology]

An organic electrophotographic photoreceptor usually has a photosensitive layer formed by sequentially coating a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer made of an organic material on a conductive substrate.

As the conductive substrate of such a photoreceptor, a cylinder made of an alloy containing aluminum as a main component is generally used, as in the case of conventional photoreceptors using inorganic materials such as selenium. In other words, an alloy whose main component is aluminum (for example, a l-Mn-based alloy or a l-Mg-Si-based alloy) is made into a cylindrical shape by extrusion formability, and then drawn and ironed to improve dimensional accuracy. After processing it to the required external dimensions using do.

Requirements for such a substrate include: a) the surface should be stable without local changes;

b) The required constant surface roughness is stably maintained.

C) When used in a printer or the like, interference fringes due to reflection of exposure light on the substrate surface should not occur in the output image.

d) Cleanability is good, and no foreign matter or dirt remains on the surface after cleaning.

Examples include.

Among these items, it is known that one effective method for satisfying items a), b), and C) is to provide an anodized film (alumite layer) on the surface of an aluminum alloy cylinder serving as a base. That is, the outer surface of an aluminum alloy cylinder is uniformly finished to the required constant roughness using an ultra-precision lathe, then anodized to coat the surface with a hard anodic oxide film, and then processed in an organic solvent (e.g., trichlene). It is common practice to use a substrate that has been cleaned by ultrasonic cleaning and further steam cleaning with organic solvent vapor.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the substrate surface coated with the above-mentioned anodic oxide film has problems in cleaning performance, and even with the above-mentioned precision cleaning, it is difficult to completely remove minute foreign objects and dirt. Photoreceptors using such substrates have a problem in that image defects appear to be caused by residual foreign matter or dirt.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an organic electrophotographic photoreceptor that eliminates the above-mentioned problems and provides a high-quality output image with few image defects.

[Means to solve the problem]

According to the present invention, the above problem can be solved by cleaning the surface of a conductive substrate made of an aluminum alloy with an anodized film formed on the surface using a weak alkaline cleaning solution while applying stress with a wiping material. This problem is solved by manufacturing a photoreceptor by forming a photosensitive layer containing an organic photoconductive material on the surface.

The cleaning material is a flexible material that is resistant to weakly alkaline cleaning solutions, such as a sponge.

Non-woven fabric etc. can be used.

[Effect]

By cleaning with a weak alkaline detergent and applying stress with a wiping material, it is possible to remove foreign substances and dirt that could not be removed by conventional ultrasonic cleaning and steam cleaning with organic solvents, and to clean the substrate surface. degree is significantly improved. By using the surface-clean substrate thus obtained, a photoreceptor with fewer image defects can be obtained.

〔Example〕

Examples of the present invention will be described below.

Example 1 The surface of an aluminum alloy cylinder that had been machined to the required external dimensions was machined to the required constant roughness using an ultra-precision lathe, and the surface was anodized with a sulfuric acid solution to form an alumite layer. The surface of this cylinder was cleaned in the following steps to obtain a conductive substrate.

(a) ) IJ Clen ultrasonic cleaning for 3 cycles ↓ (C) Trichlene steam cleaning ↓ (d) Weak alkaline cleaning solution (Johnson N (12)
Spray 0.5% by volume aqueous solution of 00 on the surface of the substrate and use a wiping material [Kanebo Q @ PV sponge (Berklin)
] Polishing (e) Cleaning with pure water ↓ (f) Draining and drying Example 2.3 The concentration of the weakly alkaline cleaning solution used in the cleaning step (d) of Example 1 was changed, and each was a 1.0% by volume aqueous solution.

Conductive substrates of Examples 2 and 3 were prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the aqueous solutions were 1.5% by volume.

Comparative Example 1 A conductive substrate of Comparative Example 1 was obtained by cleaning the cylindrical surface using a conventional cleaning method in which the cleaning step (C) of Example 1 was performed and the subsequent steps were not performed.

Comparative Examples 2 and 3.4 Instead of the weakly alkaline cleaning solution used in the cleaning step (d) of Example 1, a 5% by volume aqueous solution of a neutral detergent and 10% by volume were used, respectively.
Comparative Example 2, Comparative Example 3. Comparative example 4
It was made into a conductive substrate.

These conductive substrates were evaluated for surface drainage, wettability, and appearance. The results are shown in Table 1.

In addition, a photoreceptor is prepared by sequentially coating and forming a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer made of an organic material on these conductive substrates.
After coating, appearance, electrical properties, and image quality (using a semiconductor laser beam printer) were evaluated. The results are shown in Table 1 in correspondence with the conductive substrates used.

Table 1 From Table 1, the surface of the alumite layer on the conductive substrate of the example is much cleaner than that of Comparative Example 1.
It can be seen that a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer can be coated satisfactorily thereon, and a photoreceptor with excellent electrical properties and image quality can be obtained. In addition, from Comparative Examples 2 to 4, it can be seen that even if cleaning is performed while applying stress with a wiping material, the surface of the alumite layer cannot be sufficiently cleaned with a neutral detergent, and it is necessary to use a weakly alkaline cleaning solution. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) After cleaning the surface of a conductive substrate made of an aluminum alloy with an anodized film formed on the surface using a weak alkaline cleaning solution while applying stress with a wiping material, the surface of this substrate contains an organic photoconductive material. A method for producing an electrophotographic photoreceptor, which comprises forming a photosensitive layer.