JPH07175231A - Single-layer electrophotographic photoreceptor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a single-layer electrophotographic photoreceptor excellent in electrostatic chargeability and sensitivity and excellent in the stability of the static charge characteristic even at the time of repeating copy process. CONSTITUTION:The single-layer electrophotographic photoreceptor has a photosensitive layer 2 obtained by dispersing at least a charge generating material 21, an organic positive hole moving material and an organic acceptor type compound into a binder and using a phthalimide compound as the organic acceptor type compound.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoconductor, and more particularly to a single-layer type electrophotographic photoconductor used in a copying machine, a printer or the like using an electrophotographic process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since an electrophotographic process is based on the principle of visualizing a latent image by electrostatic force, an electrophotographic photosensitive member used for carrying out the process has a good charging property in a dark place. Rapid surface potential decay due to light irradiation is required. The characteristics required for the electrophotographic photoreceptor in such a process depend on the height of dark resistance, which is a physical property value, good quantum efficiency, high charge mobility, and the like.

As a material satisfying these physical property values, a photoconductor composed of an inorganic compound such as selenium, selenium-tellurium alloy, or selenium arsenide has been conventionally adopted and used in many copying machines. However, these materials have drawbacks that they are highly toxic, are difficult to handle because they are used in an amorphous state, and are high in cost because they need to be vacuum-deposited to a thickness of several tens of μm, and are unsolved as a photoreceptor. It had a problem.

In order to improve or eliminate these drawbacks, electrophotographic photoreceptors (OPC) using organic materials have been actively developed and put into practical use. In most of the practically used OPCs, the photosensitive layer has a layer having a charge generation function (CGL) and a layer having a charge transport function (CT).
L) and a laminated structure, which is used exclusively in the negative charging process. The reason is that the photoconductor formed by mixing the materials to be used and simply forming it as a single layer may expose the drawback that the fatigue phenomenon of charging property, sensitivity, and electrostatic properties is reduced to a level below the level of practical use. On the other hand, in the laminated type, these drawbacks are suppressed as much as possible, and the CTLs, which are rich in mechanical strength and capable of designing the film thickness, are arranged on the surface, so that the machine can be sufficiently machined in the state of being used in the process. This is because it becomes possible to maintain the photoconductor with the desired durability. In addition, organic materials exhibiting high charge mobility that does not hinder high-speed electrophotographic processes are currently limited to donor compounds having only hole-transporting properties, and the fatigue phenomenon of electrostatic properties is minimized. In order to suppress the mechanical durability of the photoconductor sufficiently while keeping it in the process, a function separation structure in which the functions of charge generation and charge transfer are separated for each layer is used, and This is because the laminated-type photoconductor disposed on the surface is the most rational in terms of electrostatic characteristics. However, the electrophotographic photoconductor having such a function-separated structure actually causes a new problem.

The first is derived from the negative charging of the photoconductor. A highly reliable charging method in the electrophotographic process is based on corona discharge, and this method is used in most copying machines and printers. However, as is well known, the negative polarity corona discharge is unstable as compared with the positive polarity, so that the charging method by the scorotron is adopted, which is one of the factors for the cost increase. Further, since negative corona discharge is accompanied by more generation of ozone, an ozone filter is used in a negative charging type copying machine or printer in order to prevent external discharge thereof. With the positive charging method, the ozone generation amount can be suppressed to a very small amount. Further, at present, the toner of the two-component type developer, which is capable of obtaining a stable image with little environmental change, is for positive charging, and from this aspect, a positive charging photoreceptor is desirable.

The second is derived from the laminated structure of the photoconductor. In the production of the photoconductor, it is possible to use a solution coating method which is less expensive than the vacuum vapor deposition method, but in order to produce such a laminated type photoconductor, at least two coating operations are usually performed. Since an undercoat layer is provided immediately above the substrate (between the substrate and the photosensitive layer) in order to ensure the charging property of 3 times, it is necessary to perform the coating operation three times, and the coating operation for plural times increases the cost of the photoconductor. Leads to. Furthermore, in order to maintain a good balance between sensitivity and durability and to obtain a good image, C
Controlling the thickness of the GL in the submicron range is another factor that further raises the manufacturing cost.

In view of these problems, it is understood that the electrophotographic photosensitive member using an organic material preferably has a single layer type (type having one photosensitive layer) structure for a positive charging process. Further, it is also understood that if the photoconductor can be used as it is or with a slight modification for the negative charging process, it is possible to create a photoconductor that is inexpensive and has a high degree of freedom in the usage environment. . However, there are very few examples of photoreceptors that satisfy this condition. Commercially available single-layer type organic photoconductors include charge transfer complex photoconductors composed of polyvinylcarbazole and trinitrofluorenone, eutectic complex photoconductors composed of thiapyrylium dye and polycarbonate, perylene pigments and hydrazone donors. It only counts the photoconductors, etc. dispersed in the resin. Of these, one was associated with the drawback of ozone generation because it was used in a negative charging process, and one was unsuitable for a high-speed copying process because of the low sensitivity of the photoconductor. further,
In the case where the components of the laminated-type photoconductor that have been put into practical use are simply dispersed, the charging potential and the sensitivity are low, and in particular, the drawback that they greatly fluctuate with repeated use cannot be overcome.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a single-layer type electrophotographic photosensitive member which is excellent in charging property and sensitivity, and which is stable in electrostatic characteristics even when a copying process is repeated. It is in.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems As a result of intensive studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have found that at least a charge generating substance, an organic hole transfer substance, and an organic acceptor compound are dispersed in a binder. In addition, they have found that a photoreceptor having a photosensitive layer using a phthalimide compound as an organic acceptor compound is effective for the above purpose, and completed the present invention. That is, according to the present invention, a single photosensitive layer is provided on a conductive substrate directly or via an undercoat layer, and the photosensitive layer is at least a charge generating substance, an organic hole transporting substance and an organic acceptor compound. Are dispersed in the binder,
Further, there is provided a single-layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor, wherein the organic acceptor compound is a phthalimide compound.

Such a photoreceptor has excellent chargeability and sensitivity,
Suitable for low-speed to high-speed copying processes, the spectral sensitivity range can be controlled by changing the charge generation material, and a photoconductor for a page printer using an LD light for optical writing from a monochrome or full-color analog copying machine. It is possible to apply to. Particularly important in the photosensitive layer according to the present invention is the use of a phthalimide compound as the organic acceptor compound. This makes it possible to increase the sensitivity of the photoconductor and improve the charging property and the electrostatic property.
Among the conventional single-layer type electrophotographic photoconductors in which the charge-generating substance is dispersed in the resin, the charge-generating substance also has a charge transfer function, and the charge characteristics of both holes and electrons are high. However, there are some defects such as low sensitivity, small number of electric charge accumulation, and decrease in charging potential due to repetition, and an induction period in which light decay does not start immediately after light irradiation (induction effect). There were drawbacks such as the latitude of the latent image potential was narrow. Further, in order to improve the hole mobility of such a photosensitive member, it is not possible to overcome the drawbacks such as the low charging property in a photosensitive member to which a hole transfer substance is simply added, and the charging potential is remarkably lowered by repeated use. It was The present invention solves the above-mentioned drawbacks by dispersing at least a charge generating substance, an organic hole transfer substance, and an organic acceptor compound in a binder and using a phthalimide compound as the organic acceptor compound.
This improvement mechanism is not clear at present, but it is estimated as follows. The charge generating substance is present in the photosensitive layer in the form of particles. Therefore, the movement of the electrons generated under the light irradiation in the photosensitive layer becomes extremely worse between the charge generating substance particles than in the charge generating substance particles, and this process causes the electron movement in the photosensitive layer.
It is considered that the life is determined. Therefore, when an acceptor compound excellent in electron transfer exists in the matrix that holds the charge generating substance dispersedly, electrons are injected from the charge generating substance particles into the acceptor compound, and smooth transfer through the matrix can be achieved. It is considered to be a thing. The phthalimide compound has a high ability to attract electrons, and can transfer most of the electrons generated in the charge generating substance by light irradiation to the acceptor compound side, and the charging property and sensitivity do not hinder the practical use of the photoconductor. The longevity of electrostatic characteristics is realized. Further, in the present invention, since the hole transfer material excellent in hole transfer is also present in the resin matrix, the hole transfer in the photosensitive layer is smoother than that in the absence thereof.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a photoconductor according to the present invention, in which 1 is a conductive substrate, 2 is a photosensitive layer, 21 is a charge generating substance, 22 is an organic hole transfer substance and an organic acceptor compound in a binder. (Phthalimide compound) represents a matrix in which (phthalimide compound) is molecularly dispersed.

In the photosensitive layer 2 of the present invention, a phthalimide compound is used as the organic acceptor compound as described above, and as the phthalimide compound, a compound represented by the following general formula (I) is preferably used.

[Chemical 1] (In the formula, R ₁ and R ₂ are substituted or unsubstituted alkyl groups,
A substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, X is ═O, ═C (Y) (Z), ═N
(CN), Y and Z each represent a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, a cyano group, or a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxycarbonyl group. )

Specific examples of the phthalimide compound represented by the general formula (I) are shown in Table 1 below, but the invention is not limited thereto.

[0014]

[Table 1- (1)]

[0015]

[Table 1- (2)]

[0016]

[Table 1- (3)]

[0017]

[Table 1- (4)]

[0018]

[Table 1- (5)]

[0019]

[Table 1- (6)]

[0020]

[Table 1- (7)]

[0021]

[Table 1- (8)]

[0022]

[Table 1- (9)]

[0023]

[Table 1- (10)]

[0024]

[Table 1- (11)]

[0025]

[Table 1- (12)]

[0026]

[Table 1- (13)]

[0027]

[Table 1- (14)]

Next, a method for producing the phthalimide compound represented by the general formula (I) of the present invention will be described.
The reaction formulas for producing the phthalimide compound represented by the general formula (I) are shown in Table 2 below. In the phthalimide compound represented by the general formula (I), a compound in which X is ═O is generally obtained by reacting 3,3,4,4-benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid anhydride (II) with the following amine compound (III). Can be obtained. In the reaction, if necessary, an acid catalyst such as sulfuric acid or p-toluenesulfonic acid, or a base catalyst such as pyridine or quinoline can be used. The reaction is usually solvent-free, toluene,
Aromatic solvents such as xylene, tetrahydrofuran, 1,
A polar solvent such as 4-dioxane or N, N dimethylformamide is used, and the reaction temperature is room temperature to 200 ° C.

The amount of the phthalimide compound which is an organic acceptor compound used in the present invention in the entire photosensitive layer 2 is 1 to 40% by weight, preferably 5 to 40% by weight.

The photosensitive layer of the present invention contains an organic hole transfer substance as an essential component. The role of the hole transfer material in the photosensitive layer is to transfer holes generated by the charge generating material in the photosensitive layer. Due to this transfer function, holes are not accumulated in the charge generating substance, and the charge generating function of the charge generating substance can be sufficiently exerted.

Examples of the organic hole transfer substance used in the present invention include compounds having a triphenylamine moiety in the molecule, hydrazone compounds, triphenylmethane compounds, pyrazoline compounds, oxadiazole compounds, compounds containing a carbazole group, and styryl. Examples thereof include donor compounds such as system compounds, butadiene compounds, polysilane compounds, and polyvinylcarbazole. The amount of the organic hole transfer material in the entire photosensitive layer 2 is 15% by weight or more, preferably 20 to
It is 40% by weight.

The role of the binder in the photosensitive layer 2 is not only good dispersion of the charge generating substance 21 and molecular dispersion of the organic hole transporting substance, but also mechanical strength of the photosensitive layer required in the copying process. I am also responsible. Therefore, when the composition ratio of the binder is low, these properties will be impaired. Therefore, the amount of the binder in the photosensitive layer cannot be unnecessarily low. The proportion of these binders in the entire photosensitive layer is 30 to 90% by weight, preferably 40 to 70% by weight. As the binder used in the present invention, polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylic resin, methacrylic resin,
Vinyl chloride resin, vinyl acetate resin, epoxy resin, polyurethane resin, phenol resin, polyester resin, alkyd resin, polycarbonate resin, silicone resin, addition polymerization type resin such as melamine resin, polyaddition type resin,
Polycondensation type resins and copolymer resins containing two or more of these repeating units, such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer resins, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate-maleic anhydride copolymer resins, etc. You can

In the single-layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention, the charge generating substance is also an essential component. Examples of the charge generating substance that can be used in the present invention include bisazo pigments, trisazo pigments, phthalocyanine pigments, perylene pigments, quinacridone pigments, indigo pigments, and polycyclic quinone pigments.
Among these, as the central skeleton of the azo pigment, an electron donating property such as a carbazole group, a styryl group, a diphenylamine group or a triphenylamine group is preferable. The amount of these charge generating substances (pigments) in the photosensitive layer 2 is 0.1 to 40% by weight, preferably 0.3 to 25% by weight.

The thickness of the photosensitive layer 2 of the present invention is 5 to 100 μm.
It is preferably about 10 to 40 μm. 5 μm
When the thickness is thinner, the charging property is lowered, and conversely, when it is thicker than 100 μm, the sensitivity is lowered.

Conductive substrate 1 that can be used in the present invention
Examples thereof include a metal plate such as aluminum, nickel, copper and stainless steel, a metal drum or a metal foil, a plastic film or glass on which a thin film such as aluminum, tin oxide and copper iodide is vapor-deposited or applied.

In the photoreceptor of the present invention, an undercoat layer may be provided between the photosensitive layer 2 and the conductive substrate 1 for the purpose of improving the charging property. As the material for the undercoat layer, polyamide resin, polyvinyl alcohol, casein, polyvinylpyrrolidone, or the like can be used in addition to the binder material. The thickness of the undercoat layer is 0.01 to 10 μm, preferably 0.1 to 5 μm.

To prepare the photoreceptor of the present invention, the above materials are dissolved in an organic solvent or dispersed by a ball mill, ultrasonic waves or the like to prepare a photosensitive layer forming liquid, which is then immersed, blade coated or sprayed. The photosensitive layer 2 may be formed by coating the conductive substrate 1 by a coating method or the like and drying it.

[0038]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described with reference to Examples.
This does not limit the present invention.

Example 1 0.5 g of X-type metal-free phthalocyanine was added together with 10 g of polycarbonate Z (PC-Z, Teijin Chemicals Co., Ltd.) solution (dissolved in tetrahydrofuran to a concentration of 10% by weight) and 9 g of tetrahydrofuran. After ball milling, the pigment composition is 2% by weight, the PC-Z composition is 50% by weight, the phthalimide compound (Specific Example No. 3) is 20% by weight, and the organic hole transfer substance represented by the following chemical formula 2 is 28%. Thus, a 10 wt% polycarbonate Z solution, a phthalimide compound, and an organic hole-transporting substance were added and sufficiently stirred to prepare a photosensitive layer forming liquid. The coating solution thus prepared was vapor-deposited with aluminum to a thickness of 1000Å.
A 5 μm thick polyester film was coated with a doctor blade, and a single-layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor having a photosensitive layer with a film thickness after drying of 15 μm was produced.

[Chemical 2]

Comparative Example 1 A photoconductor was prepared under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the phthalimide compound was omitted.

Example 2 In Example 1, the phthalimide compound was used as a specific example.
A photoconductor was prepared under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the compound of 6 was used.

Example 3 In Example 1, the phthalimide compound was used as a specific example.
A photoconductor was prepared under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that the compound of 36 was used instead. The electrophotographic photosensitive member manufactured as described above was used as an electrostatic copying paper test device (SP) manufactured by Kawaguchi Electric Co., Ltd.
-484), the surface potential Vs (V) after the corona discharge of +6 KV was performed for 20 seconds to charge, and then 2
Dark decay for 0 seconds, and then the surface potential Vo (V) at that time and from that time, the tungsten light is irradiated so that the illuminance on the photoconductor surface becomes 20 lux, and the exposure required for Vo to become 1/2. The amount of E1 / 2 (lux · sec) and the surface potential V30 (V) after 30 seconds of light irradiation were measured. The measurement results are shown in Table 2.

[Table 2] From Table 2, it can be seen that the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the present invention exhibits excellent characteristics in sensitivity and chargeability.

[0043]

The single-layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor of the present invention is excellent in charging property and sensitivity, and is excellent in stability of electrostatic characteristics even when the copying process is repeated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example of a single-layer type electrophotographic photoconductor according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conductive substrate 2 Photosensitive layer 21 Charge generation pigment 22 Binder layer A layer in which an organic hole transfer substance and an organic acceptor compound are molecularly dispersed

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A single photosensitive layer is provided on a conductive substrate directly or via an undercoat layer, and the photosensitive layer is bound with at least a charge generating substance, an organic hole transfer substance and an organic acceptor compound. A single-layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor which is dispersed in an agent and in which the organic acceptor compound is a phthalimide compound. 2. The single-layer type electrophotographic photoreceptor according to claim 1, wherein the phthalimide compound is a compound represented by the following general formula 1 (formula 1). [Chemical 1] (In the formula, R ₁ and R ₂ are substituted or unsubstituted alkyl groups,
A substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, X is ═O, ═C (Y) (Z), ═N
(CN), Y and Z each represent a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group, a cyano group, or a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxycarbonyl group. )