JPH11208105A - Ink jet recording medium and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink jet recording medium and a manufacturing method thereof capable of satisfying characteristics water resistance as well as an ink wettability or dyeing property concurrently, and further combining a sufficiently high transparency relative to use that requires transparency in particular, in such a case representative of an OHP sheet. SOLUTION: The ink jet recording medium 1 is a composition consisting of at least a specific cation modified acrylic copolymer having a group being reacted with an epoxy group, polyvinyl acetal resin, a multifunctional compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles, and has an ink receiving layer 3 made by thermosetting on at least one surface of a carrier 2. The monomer component of a cationic modified acrylic is methacrylic acid methyl, acrylic acid ethyl, methacrylic acid 2-hydroxy ethyl, and methacrylic acid dimethyl aminoethyl quaternary ammonium salt, and the polyvinyl acetal resin employs one wherein polyvinyl alcohol of a saponification degree of 70-90% is acetalized by 5-40 mol.%, and further, hydrophobic fine resin particles are fine particles in the form of a sphere, and its average particles are made into 0.1-50 μm.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium for an ink-jet printer, and more particularly to a recording medium having an excellent wettability and absorptivity.
The present invention relates to a recording medium having both water resistance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various types of printers for computer output have become widespread. Above all, an ink jet printer is excellent in quietness, cost, and image quality, can reproduce a full-color image with high quality, has excellent performance not found in other systems, and can be expected to spread further. On the other hand, paper is often used for printer paper, and plastic films and synthetic papers are also used for applications requiring smooth images utilizing their smooth surface and transparency.

[0003] Ink-jet inks include:
In order to prevent clogging of the ink nozzle, a slow-drying ink in which a water-soluble dye or the like is dissolved in an aqueous solvent is used. Therefore,
Good if the recording paper is water-absorbent, such as paper, but if it is non-water-absorbing such as a plastic film, the ink will have poor drying properties after printing. A receiving layer is provided.

However, a structure in which an ink receiving layer is provided on a support such as a plastic film has not been obtained with sufficient performance. That is, in order to improve the wettability and dyeability of the slow-drying ink, or to improve the absorbability, a method of forming the ink receiving layer from a water-soluble resin, a hydrophilic resin, or the like has been proposed. By the aqueous solvent,
Alternatively, the ink receiving layer becomes wet and tacky in a high-humidity environment, and blocking occurs when recording media are stacked,
In addition, there is a problem that drying is poor and soiling is easy if touched by hand after printing. Properties such as wettability, dyeing properties, and absorbency and properties such as water resistance, drying property and blocking resistance are mutually contradictory properties, and properties satisfying these simultaneously have not yet been obtained. Absent.

[0005]

According to the prior art, an ink jet recording medium using such a non-water-absorbing support has a satisfactory performance even if the ink receiving layer and the like are modified. Was not obtained. The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the conventional technology, and the object is to be able to simultaneously satisfy the water resistance properties, along with the wettability and dyeing properties of the ink, It is still another object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording medium having sufficiently high transparency especially for applications requiring transparency, as represented by an OHP sheet, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made to achieve the above-mentioned object, and the invention as defined in claim 1 has at least a specific cation-modified acrylic having a group reactive with an epoxy group. Ink jet having a composition comprising a polymer, a polyvinyl acetal resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles, and having, on at least one side of a support, an ink receiving layer formed by thermosetting. It is a recording medium. This makes it possible to obtain excellent performance in both ink absorption and water resistance. Further, it is preferable to contain hydrophobic fine resin particles, because the ink absorption and the water resistance can be further improved.
It is preferable in that an ink receiving layer having high transparency can be obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, based on the structure of the ink jet recording medium of the first aspect, the hydrophobic fine resin particles are a hydrophobic acrylic polymer, and the monomer component of the acrylic polymer is It is characterized by containing at least an alkyl (meth) acrylate. According to this, it is preferable in that not only the hydrophobicity but also the refractive index with the resin matches. In particular, when a transparent original is used, such as for an OHP sheet, the image of the original is hardly damaged as a whole of the ink jet recording medium, and the transparency is high.

A third aspect of the present invention is based on the constitution of the ink jet recording medium according to the first or second aspect, in particular, wherein the hydrophobic fine resin particles are spherical fine particles, and the average particle diameter thereof is Is 0.1 to 50 μm. According to this, it is preferable because both the ink absorbency and the water resistance can be improved. Here, if the average particle size is less than 0.1 μm, the effect of contributing to the ink absorbency is significantly reduced, and conversely, the average particle size is 50 μm.
It is not preferable that the ratio exceeds the range, since the glossiness of the surface of the ink receiving layer is remarkably reduced and the definition of the formed image is also reduced.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is based on the constitution of the ink jet recording medium according to any one of the first to third aspects, and particularly, the monomer component of the cation-modified acrylic copolymer is
It is characterized by comprising at least a quaternary ammonium salt of methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, and dialkylaminoethyl methacrylate. According to this, methyl methacrylate contributes to water resistance, ethyl acrylate contributes to flexibility, and dialkylaminoethyl methacrylate quaternary ammonium salt contributes to the fixability of the dye. (Wetting and fixing properties of the ink, water resistance, and transparency) can be further improved.

The invention according to claim 5 is based on the constitution of the ink jet recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and in particular, the cation-modified acrylic copolymer contains a monomer having a substituent which reacts with an epoxy group. It is characterized by being in. According to this, since it has a substituent which reacts with the epoxy group, the thermosetting property is enhanced, and good water resistance can be imparted.

The invention according to claim 6 is based on the constitution of the ink jet recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the polyvinyl acetal resin has a saponification degree of 70 to 90%.
Characterized in that the polyvinyl alcohol is acetalized from 5 to 40 mol%. According to this, it is preferable because the ink absorbency and the water resistance can be achieved in a well-balanced manner.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is based on the constitution of the ink jet recording medium according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, and in particular, the structure of the epoxy compound is aliphatic, water-soluble, and bifunctional. It is characterized by the above. According to this, the crosslinking density of the resin at the time of curing is increased, and the water resistance is greatly increased, which is preferable.

The invention according to claim 8 is based on the constitution of the ink jet recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and particularly, the cation-modified acrylic copolymer and the polyvinyl acetal resin are mixed solvent of water and alcohol. It is characterized by being dissolved in. According to this, the solubility in the mixed solvent is preferable because it is more effective in achieving both ink absorption and water resistance.

The support of the ink jet recording medium according to the present invention is not particularly limited. Basically, a support of various materials can be appropriately selected as long as it has appropriate mechanical rigidity and has a coating suitability for forming an ink receiving layer. However, in the case of an OHP sheet, it is preferable that the support itself has high transparency as a requirement. As a material of the support, for example, paper,
Synthetic paper, plastic film and the like can be mentioned. Among these, from the viewpoints of availability, low cost, ease of handling, mechanical rigidity and heat resistance, for example, among plastic films, white PET film and transparent P
ET films are preferred. Particularly, since the transparent PET film is excellent in transparency, it can be said that the transparent PET film is also suitable for applications requiring transparency (for example, for the above-mentioned OHP sheet).

A ninth aspect of the present invention provides a coating liquid comprising at least a specific cation-modified acrylic copolymer having a group reactive with an epoxy group, a polyvinyl acetal resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles. Is applied on one side of a support to form a coating layer, and thereafter, the coating layer is thermally cured to form an ink receiving layer. According to this, it is possible to obtain excellent performance in both ink absorption and water resistance. Further, it is preferable to contain hydrophobic fine resin particles, because the ink absorption and the water resistance can be further improved. It is preferable in that an ink receiving layer having high transparency can be obtained.

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an ink jet recording medium comprising a specific cation-modified acrylic copolymer having a group reactive with an epoxy group on at least one surface of a support, a polyvinyl acetal. The basic configuration is to have an ink receiving layer which is formed by applying a coating liquid composed of a resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles and thermally curing the coating liquid. In the above-mentioned inkjet recording medium, the ink-absorbing property is excellent, but the cation-modified acrylic copolymer having poor water resistance, a resin obtained by thermosetting a polyvinyl acetal resin with an epoxy compound, and further, the ink absorption rate, and to improve the water resistance. ,
By providing an ink receiving layer made of fine resin particles having hydrophobicity and an average particle size of 0.1 to 50 μm on a support,
The inventors have found that an ink jet recording medium having excellent performance in both ink absorption and water resistance can be obtained, and have completed the present invention.

The ink receiving layer in the present invention is a layer that receives ink. In the present invention, a specific resin and fine resin particles are used in the layer to improve the dyeing property, wettability and water resistance of the ink. Make them compatible. As such an ink receiving layer,
It is composed of a specific cation-modified acrylic copolymer having a group that reacts with an epoxy group, a polyvinyl acetal resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles having an average particle size of 0.1 to 50 μm.

The fine resin particles of the present invention include, for example, polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, vinyl resin such as fluororesin, polyolefin resin such as polyethylene and polypropylene, thermoplastic resin such as polyamide, polybenzoguanamine resin and urea. Fine particles made of a thermosetting resin such as a resin having an average particle size of 0.1
1 to 50 μm, preferably 0.1 to 20 μm. Preferably, about 0.1 to 20 wt% is usually contained in the ink receiving layer. If the content is too small, sufficient transportability and blocking resistance cannot be obtained. In the case of an application such as an OHP which requires a particularly transparent image, transparency is impaired if the content is too large, so that the content is preferably less than 10 wt%.

In place of the fine resin particles, for example, silica, clay, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, alumina white, aluminum hydroxide, talc, bentonite, titanium oxide, etc. Inorganic fine particles having a particle size of usually about 10 to 300 nm, such as an acid, white carbon such as hydrous calcium silicate and hydrous aluminum silicate, and alumina sol may be used. When these inorganic fine particles are used, the ink printed on the ink receiving layer is appropriately diffused, which is effective in forming a high quality image. Such inorganic fine particles are contained in the ink receiving layer in an amount of about 5 to 90% by weight. In the case of a transparent image such as an OHP, the content is slightly reduced, and in the case of an opaque image, there is also a meaning of providing whiteness, and the content is increased.

As the above-mentioned acrylic copolymer, it is desirable that the monomer constituting the copolymer is an acrylic monomer having a quaternary ammonium base particularly in the cation-modified portion. Further, an acrylic monomer having a functional group such as a hydroxy group is preferably used as a portion having a group that reacts with an epoxy group.
It is desirable to use a hydrophobic monomer such as an acrylate ester.

Examples of the acrylic monomer having a quaternary ammonium base include dimethylaminoethyl (meth) acrylate, diethylamino (meth) acrylate, diethanolamino (meth) acrylate, dipropylamino (meth) acrylate, and dipropanolamino. (Meth) acrylate, dibutylamino (meth)
(Meth) having a tertiary amino group such as acrylate
There is a quaternized monomer of an acrylate monomer.

Examples of the acrylic monomer having a quaternary ammonium base include functional groups such as carboxyl group and hydroxyl group such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, and mono (meth) acrylate of these acids and glycols such as ethylene glycol. Glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride, 3-chloro-2
And a monomer obtained by reacting a reactive quaternary ammonium salt such as -hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyltriethanolammonium chloride, glycidyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride, and glycidyldimethylbutylammonium chloride.

On the other hand, acrylic monomers having a group which reacts with an epoxy group include, for example, monomers having a carboxyl group include acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, and these monomers and ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, glycerin, pentaerythritol and the like. Esterified with polyhydric alcohol, ethylenediamine,
Examples include amidated products with polyvalent amines such as propylene diamine, acrylamide, methacrylamide and the like.

Examples of the hydrophobic monomer comprising (meth) acrylate include, for example, methyl (meth) acrylate, ethyl (meth) acrylate, propyl (meth) acrylate, butyl (meth) acrylate and the like. (Meth) acrylic acid ester or acrylamide,
Examples include monomers such as acrylonitrile, vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, and styrene.

The polyvinyl acetal resin used in the present invention is preferably a polyvinyl alcohol having a saponification degree of 70 to 90% and acetalized at 5 to 40 mol%. If the degree of saponification of the polyvinyl alcohol is less than 70% or more than 90%, the ink absorbency is significantly reduced, and if the degree of acetalization of the polyvinyl alcohol is less than 5 mol%, the water resistance is significantly reduced, If it exceeds 40 mol%, the ink absorbency is significantly reduced.

In the present invention, the acetal portion of the polyvinyl acetal resin is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of performance as an ink jet recording medium, any one of formal, methylal, ethylal, propall, and butyral is preferable. It is even more preferred.

As the epoxy compound for curing the above-mentioned cation-modified acrylic copolymer and polyvinyl acetal resin, a bifunctional or more epoxy compound having two or more epoxy groups is used. Examples of such an epoxy compound include polyglycerol polyglycidyl ether, pentaethylitol polyglycidyl ether, diglycerol polyglycidyl ether, glycerol polyglycidyl ether, trimethylolpropane polyglycidyl ether, resorcinol diglycidyl ether, and polypropylene glycol diglycol. It is an aliphatic and water-soluble epoxy compound such as glycidyl ether.

The above-mentioned cation-modified acrylic copolymer, polyvinyl acetal resin (main agent), and epoxy compound (curing agent) are all water, methanol, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid It is used as a coating liquid of a 10 to 50% by weight solution using one or two or more kinds of mixed solvents such as ethyl, toluene and xylene. At the time of use, the equivalent ratio of the base agent / curing agent is about 1/0 to 1 /
Mix in 2 and dilute as needed.

In addition, the ink receiving layer may include,
Other resins other than the above, or a surfactant,
An ultraviolet absorber, an antioxidant, a pH adjuster, an antifoaming agent, and other additives may be appropriately mixed without departing from the performance.

The thickness of the ink receiving layer is usually 1 to 50 μm.
m, preferably about 3 to 20 μm. If the thickness is too small, the dyeing properties will be insufficient, and the drying property and the anti-blocking property will be reduced. Conversely, if the thickness is too large, the cost will increase and the curl will increase.

The ink receiving layer is formed by coating a coating solution obtained by mixing the above-mentioned base agent and curing agent at an appropriate equivalent ratio on at least one surface of a support by a known coating method such as gravure coating, roll coating, wire bar coating and the like. What is necessary is just to apply by means.

Examples of the support for the ink jet recording medium include polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate, polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, polycarbonate, cellophane, cellulose acetate, and polyarylate. A film or plate made of a resin such as polyether sulfone can be used. OHP for inkjet recording media
If it is intended for use, it is transparent, especially polyethylene terephthalate film, rigid polyvinyl chloride film,
Use a polypropylene film, a triacetate film, or the like. Also, a glass plate or the like can be used. On the other hand, OHP
If it is not a transparent image application such as a transparent image, an opaque support such as white may be used, and various papers such as synthetic paper, high-quality paper, art paper, coated paper, cast coated paper, and paperboard can also be used.

The thickness of the support 2 is appropriately selected in consideration of the strength in accordance with the application and is not particularly limited.
It is about 200 μm. In addition, the surface of the support 2 may be subjected to a corona discharge treatment or a known easy adhesion treatment such as an anchor layer made of polyurethane resin or the like for the purpose of improving the adhesion of the ink receiving layer provided on the surface.

The aqueous ink that can be used in the ink jet recording medium of the present invention is a known ink jet ink, and is usually a water-soluble dye, a wetting agent, a dye solubilizer, a preservative, water, and a water-miscible ink. It consists of an organic solvent and the like.

[0035] As described above act, in the ink jet recording medium of the present invention, the particular cation-modified acrylic copolymer having a group reactive with the epoxy groups on the support, a polyvinyl acetal resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic By forming an ink-receiving layer obtained by thermally curing a layer made of water-soluble fine resin particles (particularly preferably fine resin particles having an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 50 μm), water resistance as well as wettability and dyeing properties are obtained Are also achieved at the same time. The cation-modified part of the acrylic copolymer to be cured and the hydroxy group of the polyvinyl acetal resin have ink absorbency, while water resistance is obtained by curing with a polyepoxy compound,
In addition, the filled hydrophobic fine resin particles impart ink absorption speed and water resistance, and do not cause melting or stickiness of the ink receiving layer even if the ink is absorbed.

In particular, the monomer component of the acrylic copolymer is a quaternary ammonium salt of methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate. The use of polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of chemical conversion of 70 to 90% and acetalization of 5 to 40 mol% imparts dyeing properties, and the use of hydrophobic fine resin particles allows chemical dyeing only. Instead, the absorption rate and the water resistance are imparted by utilizing the physical capillary phenomenon, so that the wettability, the dyeing property, and the water resistance are both balanced.

[0037]

The present invention will be described below more specifically with reference to examples and comparative examples. In the description, "parts" are based on weight and solids unless otherwise specified.

As a support, a polyethylene terephthalate film (trade name: Lumirror E63S, manufactured by Toray Industries, Ltd.) having a thickness of 100 μm and having a surface easily bonded was used.
A water-alcohol-based coating composition of each formulation shown in the following (Table 1) is applied thereon by bar coating so that the film thickness becomes 15 μm after drying, and dried at 150 ° C. for 3 minutes. According to the embodiment relating to the ink jet recording medium of the present invention (<Example 1> to <Example 12>
>) And Comparative Examples (<Comparative Example 1> to <Comparative Example 4>) were obtained.

[0039]

[Table 1]

Here, a 10% aqueous solution of 2-methylimidazole (3 parts) was used as a catalyst, and water / isopropyl alcohol = 6/4 (weight ratio) as a solvent.
It was prepared as a 20% mixed solution of each composition in the table. A, B, C, X, L, and M in the table are as follows. A: Cation-modified acrylic copolymer resin (trade name: Julimer SP-50TF, manufactured by Nippon Pure Chemical Co., Ltd.) B: Polyvinyl acetal resin (trade name: Esrec KX-1, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) C: Polyvinyl Acetal resin (trade name; S-LEC KX-5, manufactured by Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.) X: glycerol polyglycidyl ether (trade name;
Denacol EX-314, manufactured by Nagase Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd.) L: Polymethyl methacrylate fine particles (trade name; MP)
M: Polymethyl methacrylate fine particles (trade name: Julimer MB-1P, manufactured by Nippon Pure Chemical Co., Ltd.)

With respect to the samples of the respective ink jet recording media obtained as described above, the results of evaluating various items are summarized in Table 2 below.

[0042]

[Table 2]

Printing was performed using a Canon inkjet printer (BJC-420J), and a recorded image was formed with four color inks of yellow, magenta, cyan and black. The evaluated items are as follows.

<Evaluation Items> [Ink Absorption] Immediately after printing, the outflow state of the ink when the recording portion of the recorded matter was rubbed with a finger was evaluated. ◎: Completely dried and did not flow out at all. ○: The recording section is slightly wet, though it does not flow out. Δ: A small amount of outflow is observed. ×: A large amount of outflow is observed.

[Ink Drying Property] The drying condition (swelling of the resin) on the recording portion was visually checked. A: There is no swelling of the resin immediately after recording. ；: Resin swelling disappeared within a few minutes after recording. Δ: Swelling of the resin disappeared within one hour after recording. ×: Resin still swelled for 1 hour after recording.

[Water resistance (recording part)] Water was dropped on the recording part with a dropper and immediately wiped off lightly with gauze. A: Ink hardly flows out. ；: The ink slightly leaked, but there was no significant change in color tone. Δ: Ink spilled, and change in color tone was observed. ×: The coating film is dissolved, and the ink is also peeled off.

[Water resistance (unrecorded portion)] Water was dropped on the coating film with a dropper and immediately wiped off lightly with gauze. A: There is almost no damage to the coating film. ；: Slight damage to the coating film, but no problem in practical use. Δ: Dissolves in a part of the coating film. ×: Most of the coating film is dissolved.

<Comprehensive Evaluation of Evaluation Results> As is clear from the results in Table 2, the ink jet recording media obtained in Examples 1 to 12 according to the present invention all have ink absorbency,
Both dryness and water resistance were excellent. On the other hand, all of the comparative examples were inferior in performance to the examples and could not solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0049]

As described above, according to the ink jet recording medium and the method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention, it is possible to satisfy not only the wettability and the dyeing property of the ink, but also the water resistance characteristics at the same time. Since the transparency of the layer is high, it is difficult to impair the transparency of the entire ink jet recording medium. In particular, ink jet recording which has a sufficiently high transparency even for applications requiring high transparency as represented by an OHP sheet. A medium and a method for manufacturing the same can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment relating to an ink jet recording medium of the present invention by using a cross-sectional view thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink jet recording medium 2 ... Support body 3 ... Ink receiving layer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Jiro Watanabe 1-5-1, Taito, Taito-ku, Tokyo Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A composition comprising at least a specific cation-modified acrylic copolymer having a group that reacts with an epoxy group, a polyvinyl acetal resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles, and is thermosetting. An ink jet recording medium comprising an ink receiving layer formed on at least one surface of a support. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic fine resin particles are a hydrophobic acrylic polymer, and a monomer component of the acrylic polymer contains at least an alkyl (meth) acrylate. Item 2. An ink jet recording medium according to item 1. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic fine resin particles are spherical fine particles, and have an average particle diameter of 0.1 to 50 μm. Ink jet recording medium. 4. The cation-modified acrylic copolymer according to claim 1, wherein the monomer component comprises at least methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, and quaternary ammonium salt of dialkylaminoethyl methacrylate. The inkjet recording medium according to any one of the above. 5. The ink jet recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said cation-modified acrylic copolymer contains a monomer having a substituent which reacts with an epoxy group. 6. The polyvinyl acetal resin is prepared by adding polyvinyl alcohol having a saponification degree of 70 to 90% to 5 to 40 m
6. The ink jet recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the ink is an ol% acetal. 7. The ink jet recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the structure of the epoxy compound is aliphatic, water-soluble, and bifunctional or higher. 8. The ink jet recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the cation-modified acrylic copolymer and the polyvinyl acetal resin are dissolved in a mixed solvent of water and alcohol. 9. A coating solution comprising at least a specific cation-modified acrylic copolymer having a group which reacts with an epoxy group, a polyvinyl acetal resin, a polyfunctional epoxy compound, and hydrophobic fine resin particles is coated on one side of a support. A method for producing an ink jet recording medium, comprising: forming a coating layer by applying the composition on a substrate; and thereafter, thermally curing the coating layer to form an ink receiving layer.