KR20120049599A - Polymerized toner and preparation method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: Polymerized toner and a method for manufacturing the same are provided to improve the transferring efficiency of the toner and the concentration of images by stabilizing carbon black in toner particles. CONSTITUTION: Polymerized toner includes binder resins and toner particles dispersed in the binder resins. The toner particles include carbon black, carbon black dispersing agents, electric charge controlling agents, and wax. The average diameter of carbon black aggregate formed in the toner particles is 400nm or less. The binder resins include one or more polymer selected from a group including styrene-based monomer, acrylate-based monomer, methacrylate-based monomer, diene-based monomer, acidic olefin-based monomer, and basic olefin-based monomer.

Description

Polymerized toner and its preparation method {POLYMERIZED TONER AND PREPARATION METHOD OF THE SAME}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a polymerized toner and a method for manufacturing the polymerized toner, and more particularly, a polymerized toner and a method for producing the polymerized toner which can exhibit high image density and transfer efficiency, and thus exhibit excellent performance in application fields such as electrophotographic development. It is about.

Toner is used in electrophotographic development, electrostatic printers, copiers, and the like, and refers to a paint that can be transferred to and fixed on a transfer object to form a desired pattern. Recently, as document creation using a computer is generalized, demand for an image forming apparatus such as a printer is rapidly increasing, and thus, the amount of toner is also increasing.

In general, there are two methods for producing a toner, a production method using pulverization and a production method using polymerization. The most widely known method of pulverization is a melt-mixing process in which resin and pigment are put together, melt-mixed or extruded, pulverized and classified to produce toner particles. However, the toner particles produced by this process have a problem of poor chargeability or flowability because the toner particles have a very irregular shape such as a wide particle size distribution and sharp edges.

In order to solve this problem, a method of producing spherical toner particles by a polymerization method has been proposed. As a method of preparing the toner by polymerization, emulsion polymerization (agglomeration) and suspension polymerization are known. Since emulsion polymerization is difficult to control the size distribution of particles and there is a problem in the quality reproducibility of the produced toner, the suspension is suspended. A toner production method by polymerization is more preferred.

The toner produced by the suspension polymerization is prepared by uniformly dispersing a binder resin monomer and various additives such as pigments, waxes, charge control agents or initiators to prepare a monomer mixture, and dispersing the monomer mixture in the form of fine droplets in an aqueous dispersion. After the polymerization process is carried out. However, in the case of using carbon black to realize black in such a polymerization toner by suspension polymerization, increasing the content of the carbon black toner particles in order to increase the image density may result in transfer efficiency due to the effect of conductive carbon black. This falling problem occurs.

Therefore, there is a need for research on the development of a polymerized toner capable of realizing high image density and excellent transfer efficiency even when it contains carbon black.

The present invention is to provide a polymerized toner and a method for producing the same, which can realize high image density and excellent transfer efficiency and can exhibit a very good printing performance in application fields such as the development of electrophotographic.

The present invention comprises toner particles comprising a binder resin and carbon black dispersed in the binder resin, a carbon black dispersant, a charge control agent, and a wax, wherein the average particle diameter of the carbon black aggregate formed in the toner particles is 400 nm or less. From more than 0.1 d of the number of carbon black aggregates (N ¹ ) and the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles present in the range from the surface of the toner particles to within 0.1 d of the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles. A polymerized toner having a ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the number (N ² ) of carbon black aggregates present in the range up to 0.2d is 60% to 75%.

The invention also comprises the steps of forming an aqueous dispersion comprising a dispersant; Forming a monomer mixture comprising a binder resin monomer, a carbon black, a carbon black dispersant, a charge control agent and a wax; And adding the monomer mixture to the aqueous dispersion and forming toner particles through suspension polymerization.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a polymerized toner and a polymerized toner manufactured according to the present invention will be described in detail. However, this is presented as an example of the invention, whereby the scope of the invention is not limited, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications to the embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention.

Unless specifically stated throughout this specification, "comprising" or "containing" means including any component (or component) without particular limitation, and excludes the addition of other components (or components). Cannot be interpreted as.

In addition, in the specification of the present invention, the carbon black aggregate is dispersed in the binder resin, and the carbon black primary particles having a size of 20 to 50 nm that can be confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (Transmission Electron Microscopy), etc. are aggregated. By agglomerates of circular, spherical or polygonal which can have a size of tens to hundreds of nm.

In addition, the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles and 0.1d, 0.2d, etc. of the longest diameter in the specification of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is easy for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It can be briefly described so that it can be implemented.

1 is a schematic diagram showing carbon black aggregates distributed in toner particles according to one embodiment of the present invention. In particular, for the convenience of description with reference to the drawings, FIG. 1 is created assuming that the longest diameter d of the toner particles is the same in both the horizontal and the vertical with respect to the toner center.

As shown in Fig. 1, in the specification of the present invention, the 'longest diameter' is the length of the longest of the straight lines connecting two points on the outermost surface of the particle, that is, in the toner particles which are circular, spherical or similar polygons. , The longest distance, as indicated by 'd' in FIG. In this case, the longest diameter may be measured using a device such as a particle image analyzer (eg, a flow particle image analyzer (FPIA-1000, Toa Iyou Denshi K.K.).

Further, 'within 0.1 d of the longest diameter d of the toner particles from the surface of the toner particles' means an area within 0.1 d of the longest diameter d of the surface of the toner particles, i.e., the longest diameter d It means an area within a length of 10%, and corresponds to a portion from the surface of the toner particles indicated by the solid black line in FIG. 1 to 0.1d indicated by the solid red line. Similarly, 'more than 0.1 d of the longest diameter d of the toner particles within 0.2 d' means within 0.2 d of the length that exceeds 0.1 d of the longest diameter d on the surface of the toner particles, i.e., It means a region within 20% of the length exceeding 10% of the longest diameter (d), and corresponds to a portion from 0.1d indicated by the solid red line in Figure 1 to 0.2d represented by the solid blue line.

At this time, in the more specific sense of the 'carbon black agglomerates present in the range from the surface of the toner particles to within 0.1 d of the longest diameter d of the toner particles', the outermost part of the carbon black agglomerates is present within the region. Say the case. However, when a part of the outermost part of the carbon black aggregate is present in the region and the carbon black aggregate is present at the interface of 0.1d, the surface and 0.1 are more than 50% of the carbon black aggregate located at the toner surface. It is said that it exists in the range between d, and if it is less than 50% and the part located in the toner center side from the interface of 0.1d is more than 50%, it exists in the range between 0.1d and 0.2d. This definition applies likewise when the carbon black aggregate is present at the 0.2d interface.

In one embodiment of the invention, the number (N ¹ ) of carbon black aggregates present within 0.1 d of the longest diameter (d) at the surface of the toner particles and the number (N) of carbon black aggregates present between 0.1d and 0.2d ² ) can be confirmed by observing the cross section of the toner with an electron microscope as shown in FIG.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a binder resin, and toner particles comprising carbon black, carbon black dispersant, charge control agent, and wax dispersed in the binder resin, the longest of the toner particles from the surface of the toner particles Number of carbon black aggregates present in the range up to 0.1d of the diameter d (N ¹ ) and carbon black aggregates present in the range from more than 0.1d to 0.2d within the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles A polymerized toner having a ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the number (N ² ) of 60% to 75% may be provided.

The present inventors maintain the size and distribution range of the carbon black aggregates in the toner in a predetermined range, as shown in the manufacturing method described below, so that such a polymerized toner can have a high image density when applied to printing. As well as confirming that high transfer efficiency can also be achieved, the present invention has been completed. Accordingly, the polymerized toner of the present invention can be applied to an application field such as the development of electrophotographic which requires the realization of a uniform image, and by using this, an excellent quality printing result can be obtained.

As described above, the average particle diameter of the carbon black aggregate formed in the polymerized toner particles of the present invention is 400 nm or less or 40 to 400 nm, preferably 300 nm or less or 40 to 300 nm, more preferably 200 nm or less It may be 40 to 200 nm. In the polymerized toner particles of the present invention, the carbon black and the carbon black aggregate are preferably dispersed in the smallest possible size. When the average particle diameter of the carbon black aggregate exceeds 400 nm, uniform dispersion is not performed in the toner particles, so that the image density may be lowered and the transfer efficiency may be significantly reduced.

Further, the carbon black agglomerates are formed by the number of carbon black agglomerates (N ¹ ) present in a range from the surface of the toner particles to within 0.1 d of the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles and the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles. The ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the number (N ² ) of carbon black aggregates present in the range of more than 0.1 d to within 0.2 d is preferably 60% to 75%, preferably 63% to 72%, more preferably. Preferably from 65% to 70%. Ratio (N ² / N ¹⁾ of the carbon black agglomerates (N ²⁾ which is present between the carbon black aggregates in the (N ¹⁾ that exists between the surface of the toner particles to 0.1d 0.1d to 0.2d is If less than 60%, the charging efficiency of the toner particles may be lowered, thereby lowering the transfer efficiency. If the distribution ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the carbon black aggregate exceeds 75%, the carbon black may be toner particles. It is difficult to obtain an effect of increasing image density as it is biased toward the surface side of.

In the present invention, the carbon black component forming the carbon black aggregate may be any carbon black known to be applicable to a polymerized toner. However, specific components and the like can be selected and used so that the size and distribution ratio of the carbon black aggregate formed in the polymerized toner particles of the present invention can be optimized in the predetermined range as described above. At this time, the average particle diameter of the carbon black, that is, the average particle diameter of the carbon black primary particles before the carbon black aggregate is formed may be 50 nm or less or 20 to 50 nm. When the average particle diameter of the carbon black exceeds 50 nm, a problem may occur that the carbon black leaves the aqueous dispersion system during the toner particle formation process.

The carbon black may be one whose surface properties are changed through plasma treatment. Here, the plasma treatment is to chemically change the surface of the carbon black by using a gas activated by using plasma. At this time, depending on the type of gas (gas) used, the surface of the carbon black may be changed to hydrophilic or hydrophobic compared to the untreated surface. For example, when plasma treatment is performed using at least one of NF ₃ , CF ₄ , SF ₅ , and the like as the activated gas, the surface of the carbon black may be changed to hydrophobicity. In addition, when plasma treatment is performed using at least one NH ₃ , O _2, or the like as the activated gas, the surface of the carbon black may be changed to hydrophilic. At this time, in the case of hydrophilic treatment of carbon black, the aggregation between the carbon black may increase and the carbon black may tend to be concentrated on the surface of the toner particles. On the other hand, when the carbon black is hydrophobicly treated, aggregation between the carbon blacks is reduced and the carbon blacks can be evenly dispersed in the toner particles. By changing the surface properties of the carbon black through the plasma treatment in this way, the cohesive properties of the carbon black and the position in the toner particles can be adjusted to the optimum range.

In addition, a carbon black dispersant is included to improve the stability of the carbon black in the toner particles. The carbon black dispersant may use a styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymer having a weight average molecular weight of 2,000 to 200,000. Preferably, the styrene content to the butadiene content of the copolymer is in a weight ratio of 10:90 to 90:10 can be used. At this time, when the content of the styrene exceeds 90%, butadiene block length is shortened, and may not sufficiently serve as a carbon black dispersant due to high compatibility with the binder resin, less than 10% may sufficiently serve as a carbon black dispersant. Although short, the length of the styrene block can be performed, but may exhibit a phenomenon that the action of the pigment to the pigment, that is, the action of carbon black to carbon black is not sufficiently controlled. In addition, when the molecular weight is less than 2,000, the high compatibility with the binder resin may not be able to fully function as a carbon black dispersant. If the molecular weight exceeds 200,000, the viscosity of the monomer mixture may be too high to deteriorate dispersion stability and polymerization stability. Problems may arise that widen the particle size distribution.

On the other hand, the monomer for the binder resin in the present invention can be used all monomers used in the toner produced by the polymerization method is not particularly limited. Examples of the monomers include styrene monomers, acrylate monomers, methacrylate monomers, and diene monomers, and one or more of them may be mixed and used. In addition, one or more types of acidic olefin monomers or basic olefin monomers may be optionally mixed with the monomers.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the binder resin may include a styrene monomer, an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer, a diene monomer, an acidic olefin monomer or a basic olefin monomer, or a polymer or copolymer of a mixture thereof. have. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various monomers known to be usable for the formation of the toner produced by the suspension polymerization method may be used without particular limitation, and from such monomers, a polymer or a copolymer which becomes a binder resin of the polymerized toner may be formed. Can be.

The binder resin is (a) a styrene monomer; And (b) a polymer or copolymer of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer and a diene monomer. The polymer polymerizes 30 to 95 parts by weight of the monomer of (a) and 5 to 70 parts by weight of the monomer of (b) with respect to 100 parts by weight of the monomer of (a) and the monomer of (b). It may include one.

In addition, the polymer is a monomer selected from the group consisting of the styrene monomer of (a), (b) an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer and a diene monomer, and (c) an acidic olefin monomer. And at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of basic olefin monomers. At this time, the monomer of (c) may be polymerized to 0.1 to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the monomer of (a) and the monomer of (b).

Styrene monomers for the formation of the binder resin include styrene, monochlorostyrene, methyl styrene, dimethyl styrene, and the like. The acrylate monomers include methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butyl acrylate and isobutyl. Acrylate, dodecyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, and the like. The methacrylate monomers include methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, n-butyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, dodecyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, and the like. The diene monomers include butadiene, isoprene and the like.

As the acidic olefin monomer, an α, β-ethylenically unsaturated compound having a carboxyl group may be used, and the basic olefin monomer may be a methacrylic acid ester or methacrylic amide of an aliphatic alcohol having an amine group or a quaternary ammonium group. Type, vinyl amine type, diallyl amine type, ammonium salt thereof and the like can be used.

On the other hand, the polymerized toner of the present invention includes a charge control agent and a wax together with the binder resin and the carbon black and the carbon black dispersant dispersed in the binder resin. In particular, in the present invention, carbon black is included as the pigment.

The charge control agent may include a cationic charge control agent, an anionic charge control agent, or a mixture thereof. The cationic charge control agents include nigrosine dyes, high aliphatic metal salts, alkoxy amines, chelates, quaternary ammonium salts, alkylamides, fluorine treatment actives, metal salts of naphthalene acid, or mixtures thereof. Include chlorinated paraffins, chlorinated polyesters, polyesters containing acids, sulfonylamines of copper phthalocyanine, sulfonic acid groups or mixtures thereof.

In addition, it is preferable to use a copolymer having a sulfonic acid group as the charge control agent, more preferably, a copolymer having a sulfonic acid group having a weight average molecular weight of 2,000 to 200,000 may be used, and even more preferably an acid value of 1 It may be used a copolymer having a sulfonic acid group is from 40 mg KOH / g, the glass transition temperature is 30 to 120 ℃. If the acid value is less than 1, it does not act as a charge control agent, and if it is 40 or more, it affects the interfacial properties of the monomer mixture to deteriorate the polymerization stability. In addition, when the glass transition temperature is lower than 30 ° C., the low glass transition temperature of the charge control agent exposed on the surface may cause friction-melting of the toner toner during printing, which may cause a blocking phenomenon. The surface is excessively hard, which is undesirable for the coating property and fixability. In addition, when the weight average molecular weight is less than 2,000, the surface concentration may decrease due to high compatibility with the binder resin, and thus may not function as a charge control agent. When the weight average molecular weight is 200,000 or more, polymerization stability and particle size may be increased due to an increase in the viscosity of the monomer mixture due to high molecular weight. Not desirable for distribution Specific examples of the copolymer having a sulfonic acid group may include a styrene-acrylic copolymer having a sulfonic acid group, a styrene-methacrylic copolymer having a sulfonic acid group, or a mixture thereof, but is not limited thereto.

The wax may be petroleum refined wax such as paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, or ceresin wax; Natural waxes such as carnuba wax; Or synthetic waxes such as polyester waxes, polyethylene waxes, or polypropylene waxes, or mixtures thereof.

On the other hand, in one embodiment of the invention, the toner particles are binder resin; And carbon black, carbon black dispersant, charge control agent, and wax dispersed in the binder resin. And, such toner particles are 50 to 95% by weight, preferably 60 to 93% by weight, more preferably 70 to 90% by weight of the binder resin; 1 to 20% by weight, preferably 2 to 15% by weight, more preferably 3 to 10% by weight of the carbon black; 0.1 to 20% by weight, preferably 0.2 to 15% by weight, more preferably 0.3 to 10% by weight of the carbon black dispersant; 0.1 to 5% by weight, preferably 0.3 to 4% by weight of the charge control agent, more preferably 0.5 to 3% by weight; And 0.1 to 30% by weight of wax, preferably 1 to 25% by weight, more preferably 5 to 20% by weight. By maintaining the binder resin and the content of the pigment, pigment stabilizer, charge control agent, wax, and the like dispersed in the binder resin in the range as described above, to achieve a uniform image and excellent transfer efficiency with excellent image density of the polymerized toner At the same time, the offset phenomenon, which is a phenomenon that the toner contaminates the fixing roll in the fixing process, can be effectively prevented.

The toner particles may further include at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a reaction initiator, a crosslinking agent, a molecular weight regulator, a lubricant (eg, oleic acid, stearic acid, and the like), and a coupling agent. At this time, the toner particles are 10 wt% or less or 0.1 to 10 wt%, preferably 8 wt% or 0.3 or 8 wt%, more preferably 5 wt% or less, or 0.5 to 5 wt% of the reaction initiator; 5% by weight or less of the crosslinking agent or 0.01-5% by weight, preferably 4% by weight or less, 0.05-4% by weight, more preferably 3% by weight or less, 0.1-3% by weight; Or 10% by weight or less or 0.1 to 10% by weight, preferably 8% by weight or 0.3 to 8% by weight, more preferably 5% by weight or 0.5 to 5% by weight; An appropriate amount of lubricant (e.g., oleic acid, stearic acid, etc.), for example, up to 5 wt% or from 0.01 to 5 wt%, preferably up to 4 wt% or from 0.05 to 4 wt%, more preferably up to 3 wt% or 0.1 glide To 3 weight percent; An appropriate amount of coupling agent, such as 5 wt% or less or 0.01 to 5 wt%, preferably 4 wt% or 0.05 or 4 wt%, more preferably 3 wt% or less, or 0.1 to 3 wt%, etc. It may further comprise one or more.

As the reaction initiator, an oil-soluble initiator and a water-soluble initiator can be used. Specifically, Azo initiators, such as azobisisobutyronitrile and azobisvaleronitrile; Organic peroxides such as benzoyl peroxide and lauroyl peroxide; Commonly used water-soluble initiators, such as calcium persulfate and ammonium persulfate, can be used, and 1 type, or 2 or more types can also be mixed and used.

The crosslinking agent is divinylbenzene, ethylene dimethacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol diacrylate, 1,6-hexamethylene diacrylate, allyl methacrylate, 1,1,1-trimethylol Propane triacrylate, triallylamine, tetraallyloxyethane or mixtures thereof.

The molecular weight modifier may include t-dodecyl mercaptan, n-dodecyl mercaptan, n-octyl mercaptan, carbon tetrachloride or mixtures thereof.

As the lubricant and the coupling agent, those known to be applicable to the production of the polymerized toner may be used without particular limitation.

Polymerized toner of the present invention is 50 to 95% by weight of a binder resin; 1 to 20 weight percent carbon black; 0.1 to 20% by weight carbon black dispersant; 0.1 to 5 weight percent charge control agent; 0.1 to 30 weight percent wax; And at least 10 wt% or 0.01 to 10 wt% of at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a reaction initiator, a crosslinking agent, a molecular weight modifier, a lubricant, and a coupling agent.

In addition, in one embodiment of the invention, the toner particles may further include a coating film containing an external additive such as silica, titanium dioxide or a mixture thereof. Such external additives may be present in a form coated on the outermost portion of the toner particles. The silica is preferably surface treated with a silane compound such as dimethyldichlorosilane, dimethylpolysiloxane, hexamethyldisilazane, aminosilane, alkylsilane or octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane. The titanium dioxide may be used alone or in combination with a stable rutile at high temperature or anatase structure at low temperature, and may have a particle size of 80 to 200 nm, preferably 100 to 150 nm. Applicable

The average particle diameter of the toner particles in the polymerized toner of the present invention is 4 to 10 m, preferably 5 to 8 m, more preferably 6 to 7 m. The average particle diameter of such toner particles may be 4 μm or more in terms of image density and scattering prevention, and the average particle size of the toner particles may be 10 μm or less in terms of reducing consumption.

Meanwhile, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing the polymerized toner may be provided. In particular, the method of producing the polymerized toner comprises the steps of forming an aqueous dispersion comprising a dispersant; Forming a monomer mixture comprising a monomer for a binder resin, a carbon black, a carbon black dispersant, a charge control agent and a wax; And adding the monomer to the aqueous dispersion and forming the toner particles through suspension polymerization, wherein forming the monomer mixture comprises 10 to 10 under a stirring speed of 8,000 to 20,000 rpm with a bead mill after adding carbon black. The process may further comprise milling for 120 min.

The inventors of the present invention perform a milling process under optimum conditions when preparing a toner by suspension polymerization, thereby producing a polymerized toner in which the carbon black aggregate has an average particle diameter and distribution ratio in a predetermined range as described above. The present invention was completed to confirm that the prepared polymerized toner can not only have a high image density when applied to printing, but also achieve high transfer efficiency. Application of such a polymerized toner can be effectively applied to fields such as photo printing requiring high image density.

In particular, the step of forming the monomer mixture is 10 to 120 min after stirring at a speed of 8,000 to 20,000 rpm, preferably 9,000 to 18,000 rpm, more preferably 10,000 to 14,000 rpm after the addition of carbon black in the vessel During the process, preferably for 20 to 100 min, more preferably for 30 to 60 min. The milling process may be carried out using a bead mill in an amount corresponding to half the volume of the monomer mixture, the bead mill may be used in a size having a diameter of 0.1 to 1 mm, preferably 0.2 to 0.5 mm. When the stirring speed is less than 8,000 rpm, it may be difficult to uniformly disperse the carbon black in the monomer mixture. When the stirring speed is higher than 20,000 rpm, the surface of the carbon black may be damaged to increase agglomeration between the carbon blacks, thereby increasing the size of the carbon black aggregates. Can grow excessively. In addition, the size of the carbon black agglomerates or the distribution in the particles may vary according to the milling time. When the milling time is shorter than 20 min, the carbon black may be biased on the surface of the toner particles to improve the chargeability of the toner particles. It may lower the transfer efficiency. On the contrary, in the case where the milling process is carried out for more than 50 minutes and the milling time is longer than necessary, the surface of the carbon black is damaged and the size of the carbon black aggregate is increased, thereby improving the chargeability of the toner particles. It may lower the transfer efficiency.

The step of forming the monomer mixture including such a milling process is carried out, the average particle diameter of the carbon black aggregate formed in the toner particles is 400 nm or less, the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles from the surface of the toner particles Number of carbon black aggregates present in the range up to 0.1 d (N ¹ ) and number of carbon black aggregates present in the range from more than 0.1 d to within 0.2 d of the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles (N ²⁾ A polymerized toner having a ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of 60% to 75% can be produced and high image density and transfer efficiency can be realized.

In addition, the milling process may be performed by adding 20 to 50 parts by weight, preferably 22 to 48 parts by weight, more preferably 25 to 45 parts by weight of beads, based on 100 parts by weight of the monomer mixture.

In one embodiment of the invention, the dispersant may be mixed with water to form the aqueous dispersion. In order to homogenize such an aqueous dispersion, agitation or shearing may be applied. Specifically, the forming of the aqueous dispersion may include mixing calcium phosphate aqueous solution and calcium chloride aqueous solution to obtain calcium phosphate in the form of crystals on the aqueous solution. The calcium phosphate may be used as a dispersant, and the aqueous dispersion may have a form in which calcium phosphate crystals are uniformly dispersed in water.

The dispersant prevents agglomeration between particles of a binder resin monomer or carbon black and the like present in the form of droplets in the aqueous medium, and enables the particles to be uniformly dispersed. In addition, the dispersant serves to stabilize the droplet particles by being uniformly adsorbed on the surface of the droplet. In addition, such a dispersant may be solubilized after the completion of the polymerization reaction in an aqueous medium by acid or alkali treatment, or hot water washing, and separated from the toner particles.

The dispersant includes an inorganic dispersant, an organic dispersant, an anionic surfactant or a mixture thereof. Such a dispersant may be applied in an amount of 1 to 5 parts by weight, preferably 2 to 4 parts by weight, and more preferably 2.5 to 3.5 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the monomer mixture.

Specific examples of the inorganic dispersant include calcium phosphate, calcium hydrogen phosphate, calcium dihydrogen phosphate, hydroxy apatite, magnesium phosphate, aluminum phosphate, zinc phosphate, calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, Calcium metasilicate, calcium sulfate, barium sulfate, bentonite, silica, alumina or mixtures thereof.

Specific examples of the water-soluble organic dispersant include polyvinyl alcohol, gelatin, methyl cellulose, methyl hydroxy propyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl Carboxyl methyl cellulose and its sodium salt, polyacrylic acid and its salt, starch or mixtures thereof, and the like.

Specific examples of the anionic surfactants include fatty acid salts, alkyl sulfate ester salts, alkylaryl sulfate ester salts, dialkyl sulfosuccinate salts, alkyl phosphates or mixtures thereof.

More preferable examples of the dispersant include calcium phosphate. The calcium phosphate may be obtained in the form of crystals in an aqueous solution by mixing an aqueous solution of sodium phosphate and an aqueous solution of calcium chloride, and the aqueous dispersion may be in a form in which calcium phosphate crystals are uniformly dispersed in water.

On the other hand, the monomer mixture may be formed by mixing and sufficiently dissolving the binder resin monomer, carbon black, carbon black dispersant, charge control agent and wax, etc., it may be homogenized in the aqueous dispersion using a homogenizer. At this time, the step of forming the monomer mixture may be performed after the milling process at the stirring speed and milling time as described above after adding the carbon black.

The binder resin monomer may include a styrene monomer, an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer, a diene monomer, an acidic olefin monomer, a basic olefin monomer, or a mixture thereof.

In addition, the binder resin monomer is (a) a styrene monomer; And (b) at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer and a diene monomer. The monomer for binder resin is 30 to 95 parts by weight of the monomer of (a) and 5 to 70 parts of the monomer of (b) based on 100 parts by weight of the monomer of (a) and the monomer of (b). It may include parts by weight.

In addition, the binder resin monomer is a monomer selected from the group consisting of the styrene monomer of (a), (b) an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer and a diene monomer, (c) an acidic olefin It may include one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of monomers and basic olefin monomers. In this case, the monomer of (c) may be included in an amount of 0.1 to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the monomer of (a) and the monomer of (b).

In addition, the specific example of the binder resin monomer, carbon black, a carbon black dispersing agent, a charge control agent, and a wax contained in the said monomer mixture is as above-mentioned. In addition, the monomer mixture is 50 to 95% by weight of the binder resin monomer, 1 to 20% by weight of the carbon black, 0.1 to 20% by weight of the carbon black dispersant, 0.1 to 5% by weight of the charge control agent, and 0.1 to the wax And 30% by weight.

Toner particles may be formed by mixing the monomer mixture with the aqueous dispersion and suspending polymerizing. More specifically, the forming of the toner particles may include adding the monomer mixture to the aqueous dispersion; Applying shear force to the aqueous dispersion and monomer mixture to homogenize the monomer mixture in the form of droplets in the aqueous dispersion; And suspension polymerizing the homogenized monomer mixture. As described above, the monomer mixture and the aqueous dispersion may be homogenized using a homogenizer.

When the monomer mixture is uniformly dispersed in the form of fine water droplets (droplets) in the aqueous dispersion to proceed with the polymerization reaction It is possible to form spherical toner particles of appropriate size. For dispersion in the form of such droplets (droplets), a homogenizer may be used to homogenize the monomer mixture and the aqueous dispersion by applying shear force. Specifically, the monomer mixture mixed with the aqueous dispersion using a homogenizer is used. Can be homogenized at a speed of 5,000 rpm to 20,000 rpm, preferably 8,000 rpm to 17,000 rpm, so that the monomer mixture can be dispersed in the form of fine droplets in the aqueous dispersion.

The suspension polymerization may be carried out at 60 to 90 ℃ for 8 to 20 hours. As a more preferred example, the suspension polymerization may be carried out at 50 to 70 ℃ for 8 to 12 hours after the suspension polymerization reaction, the temperature is raised to 80 to 110 ℃ may proceed for 30 minutes to 4 hours.

On the other hand, in one embodiment of the invention removing the dispersant; And drying the toner particles.

Removing the dispersant may include adjusting to a pH suitable for dissolution of the dispersant. By adding a water-soluble inorganic acid such as hydrochloric acid or nitric acid to the dispersion in which the toner particles are produced, and adjusting the pH to 2 or less, preferably 1.5 or less, the dispersant may be dissolved in an aqueous solution and removed from the toner particles. In this dispersant removal step, the toner slurry containing less than 50% by weight of water may be obtained using a filtration device after the pH is properly adjusted and stirred for at least 5 hours to sufficiently dissolve the dispersant. In addition, in the step of removing the dispersant, a step of homogenizing the solution by applying shear force to the homogenizer and a separation step using a centrifugal separator may be applied. In addition, after the dispersant removing step described above, the dispersant may be more efficiently removed by repeating the removal of water using a filter device and the addition of excess distilled water several times.

Drying the toner particles includes putting a toner cake from which the dispersant is removed into a vacuum oven and vacuum drying at room temperature. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a drying method known to be commonly used in the preparation of the polymerized toner may be used without particular limitation.

In addition, in one embodiment of the invention, it may further comprise the step of coating the outside of the toner particles. In this coating step, an inorganic powder including a separate external additive, for example, silica, titanium dioxide, or a mixture thereof, may be coated on the surface of the toner particle, and the coating step may be performed by using a Henschel mixer. After adding an external additive to a particle | grain, it can advance by the method of high speed stirring. The silica may be used without particular limitation as is known to be usable for the polymerized toner. Since the inorganic powder applicable in the coating step has been described above, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The monomer mixture may further include adding at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a reaction initiator, a crosslinking agent, a lubricant, a molecular weight regulator, and a coupling agent. Specific examples and preferred content ranges of such additives are as described above.

On the other hand, the polymerized toner of the present invention may have excellent physical properties capable of realizing a uniform image with high image concentration and excellent transfer efficiency with a narrow particle size distribution. In particular, in the case of using the polymerized toner of the present invention, the transfer efficiency is 95% or more and the image density in printing paper can be very good, having a property of 1.35 or more. As such, by having a high transfer efficiency of 90% or more, there is an advantage that can realize a high image density with a small consumption. In addition, when the image density has an excellent image density of 1.35 or more, and the image concentration is less than 1.35, a problem in which a clear and uniform image may not be realized when the development of the electrophotographic is applied.

In the present invention, matters other than those described above can be added or subtracted as required, and therefore, the present invention is not particularly limited thereto.

The present invention provides a polymerized toner having a narrow particle size distribution and improving stability of carbon black in toner particles by maintaining the average particle diameter and distribution ratio of the carbon black aggregates formed in the toner particles in a predetermined range, and having excellent charging characteristics, and a method of manufacturing the same. To provide.

In particular, the polymerized toner according to the present invention can improve image density, implement high transfer efficiency, and can exhibit very good performance in applications such as development of electrophotographic.

1 is a schematic diagram showing carbon black aggregates distributed in toner particles according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a photograph showing a TEM image of a toner prepared according to Example 1 of the present invention.
3 is a photograph showing a TEM image of a toner prepared according to Comparative Example 1 of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the following examples. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

[ Example  One]

Preparation of Polymerized Toner

686 g of 0.1 M aqueous sodium phosphate solution and 100 g of 1 M calcium chloride were mixed with 500 g of water, and stirred at a reaction temperature of 70 ° C. for 20 minutes to prepare an aqueous dispersion in which calcium phosphate crystals were precipitated. The content of calcium phosphate in the aqueous dispersion was 3 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the monomer mixture described below.

Monomer for binder resin of 160 g of styrene, 36 g of n-butyl acrylate, and 4 g of acrylic acid, 4 g of allyl methacrylate as a crosslinking agent, 0.4 g of n-dodecyl mercaptan as a molecular weight modifier, 10,000 molecular weights as a carbon black dispersant Styrene / 2EHA / anionic functional monomer copolymer, FCA 1001, containing 3 g of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) block copolymer and a sulfonic acid group having a weight average molecular weight of 16,500 NS, Fujikura Kasei) 4 g are mixed and dissolved in a 1 L container, and 10 g of carbon black is added thereto, and the mixture is slowly stirred to allow carbon black to be impregnated with the monomer, followed by adding 70 g of 0.3 mm zirconium beads. After stirring at a speed of 10,000 rpm for 60 minutes, the beads were removed using a 200 mesh.

The carbon black has been modified surface characteristics according to the plasma treatment, the plasma treatment uses nitrogen gas as a carrier gas (carrier gas), NF ₃ gas as a reactive gas, that is, activated gas (gas) Surface was modified. At this time, 3% by volume of NF ₃ gas relative to 100% by volume of nitrogen gas (gas) was used as the reactive gas. Through this plasma treatment process, the carbon black surface becomes more hydrophobic.

To the mixture from which the beads were removed, an additional 20 g of paraffin wax was added and stirred to completely dissolve the wax in the mixture, and 5 g of an azo nitrile (V65, Waco Chemical) was added thereto. Further stirring for 5 minutes gave a monomer mixture. At this time, the weight of the monomer mixture was 246.4 g.

The monomer mixture was added to the aqueous dispersion, and a shear force was applied at a speed of 13,000 rpm using a homogenizer to disperse and homogenize the monomer mixture in the form of fine droplets in the aqueous dispersion. Through the homogenization, the monomer mixture dispersed in the aqueous dispersion in the form of fine droplets was reacted at 60 ° C. for 10 hours while stirring at 200 rpm with a paddle type stirrer, and heated at 90 ° C. for 3 hours to further react to the slurry. A polymerized toner was prepared in an included form.

Toner Particle Cleaning and Drying

Hydrochloric acid was added to the slurry containing the polymerized toner to adjust the pH to 2 or less, and calcium phosphate was dissolved. After removing water using a filtration apparatus, distilled water was added twice as much as the total weight, diluted, homogenized by applying a shear force to a homogenizer, and then centrifugal separator (Beckman J2-21M, Rotor JA-14). Was centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 15 minutes. This dilution, homogenization and centrifugation were repeated three times to remove calcium phosphate and other impurities on the toner surface.

Finally, after removing water through filtration, the toner cake was put in a vacuum oven and vacuum dried at room temperature for 48 hours to prepare a polymerized toner core. The volume average particle diameter of the prepared polymerized toner core was 7 µm, and the ratio (standard deviation) of the volume average particle diameter and the number average particle diameter was 1.26. At this time, the volume average particle diameter of the core was measured using a Coulter counter (Multisizer 3, Beckman coulter).

External additive  coating

After adding 2 parts by weight of silica to 100 parts by weight of the polymerized toner core using a Henschel mixer, the external additive was coated on the surface of the polymerized toner core by stirring at a speed of 5,000 rpm for 7 minutes.

[ Example  2]

A polymerized toner was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the milling time of the monomer mixture containing carbon black was changed to 30 minutes.

[ Comparative example  One]

A polymerized toner was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the milling time of the monomer mixture containing carbon black was changed to 10 minutes.

[ Comparative example  2]

A polymerized toner was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the milling time of the monomer mixture containing carbon black was changed to 2 hours.

[ Comparative example  3]

A polymerized toner was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1, except that milling of the monomer mixture to which carbon black was added was performed without using a bead mill and using a paddle type stirrer.

[ Comparative example  4]

The milling of the monomer mixtures with carbon black was milled by five passes using a pressurized homogenizer (Homogenizer, Microfluidics, M110L) without using a bead mill. A polymerized toner was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1.

[ Experimental Example ]

The physical properties of the polymerized toners prepared according to Examples 1 to 2 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were evaluated as follows.

Transfer Efficiency of Toner

After filling the supply portion of the laser printer (HP4600, manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard) cartridge with the polymerized toner prepared according to Examples 1 to 2 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the weight of the entire supply portion was measured. After printing 1,000 sheets of a rectangle 19 cm long and 1.5 cm long on A4 paper, the weight of the supply unit was measured again, and the toner consumption was calculated as in the following Equation 1.

[Calculation 1]

Consumption (g) = feed weight before 1,000 sheets print-feed weight after 1,000 sheets print

In addition, the weight of the drum unit which can be separated from the supply unit was measured before printing and after printing, and the amount of toner that was not transferred and wasted was calculated as shown in Equation 2 below.

[Equation 2]

Waste amount of toner (g) = drum weight after printing 1,000 sheets-drum weight before printing 1,000 sheets

After calculating the amount of the toner consumed and wasted as described above, the transfer efficiency was calculated as in the following Equation 3.

[Equation 3]

Transfer Efficiency (%) = {(Consumption-Waste Toner) / Consumption} * 100

Image density measurement

After full printing on A4 size paper with a laser printer (HP2600, manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard), the image density is measured by measuring the image density of 4 corners and 1 center of printing paper using the image density meter (RD918, Macbath). Was taken.

Transmission electron microscope Transmission Electron Microscopy ) analysis

In the polymerized toner prepared according to Examples 1 to 2 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the number of carbon black aggregates present in the range from the surface of the toner particles to within 0.1 d of the longest diameter d of the toner particles. (N ² ) and the number of carbon black aggregates (N ² ) present in the range up to 0.2 d from the portion exceeding 0.1 d were measured, and the ratio thereof (N ² / N ¹ ) was calculated. It was. At this time, when the carbon black agglomerates were present at the interface of 0.1d, it was considered that the portion located on the surface of the toner was 50% or more, and moreover, it was present in the range between the surface and 0.1d (N ¹ ). It was assumed that the portion located at the center of the toner was 50% or more and more present in the range between 0.1d and 0.2d (N ² ).

In addition, the size of the carbon black agglomerates (Carbon Blalck Aggregates) and the ratio of N ² / N ¹ was measured by image analysis by arbitrarily selecting 10 of the prepared toner, and the average value thereof is shown in Table 1 below.

Meanwhile, a TEM image of the toner prepared in Example 1 is shown in FIG. 2, and a TEM image of the toner prepared in Comparative Example 1 is shown in FIG. 3.

Evaluation results of the image concentration, the transfer efficiency, and the transmission electron microscopy analysis of the polymerized toner prepared according to Examples 1 to 2 and Comparative Examples 1 to 4 are shown in Table 1 below.

division Carbon black aggregates
Average particle size (nm) N ² / N ¹
(%) Burn density Transcription efficiency
(%) Example 1 200 70 1.4 95 Example 2 250 65 1.38 92 Comparative Example 1 500 55 1.1 80 Comparative Example 3 180 77 1.3 80 Comparative Example 3 400 57 1.3 75 Comparative Example 4 200 55 1.3 70

First, as shown in the transmission electron microscope (Transmission Electron Microscopy) of Figure 2, the polymerized toner of Example 1 according to the present invention can be seen that the average particle diameter and distribution range of the carbon black aggregate is optimized to a predetermined range have. However, as shown in the Transmission Electron Microscopy photograph of FIG. 3, it can be seen that the polymerized toner of Comparative Example 1 had a large carbon black aggregate and agglomerated on the surface of the toner.

In addition, as shown in Table 1, the polymerized toners of Examples 1 and 2 having the average particle diameter and distribution range of the carbon black aggregate in a predetermined range according to the present invention can realize a high image density with significantly improved transfer efficiency. It was confirmed that there is. In particular, it can be seen that by applying the polymerized toners of Examples 1 to 2, a high transfer efficiency of 90% or more can be achieved, and the image density can be remarkably improved to 1.35 or more.

On the other hand, in the polymerized toners of Comparative Examples 1 to 4, the average particle diameter of the carbon black aggregates is increased or distributed on the surface, and thus, the transfer efficiency and the image concentration are remarkably decreased. In particular, the polymerized toner of Comparative Example 1 excessively increased the average particle size of the carbon black agglomerate to 500 nm and the number distribution ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the carbon black agglomerate was about 55, resulting in 80% transfer efficiency. At the same time, the image density is significantly lowered to 1.1, and when applied to an electrophotographic phenomenon, it may be difficult to realize a uniform and clear image. In addition, in the polymerization toners of Comparative Examples 2 to 4, the number distribution ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the carbon black agglomerates was 77.55 and 57, respectively, out of the optimum range, whereby the chargeability of the toner particles was lowered and transferred. It can be seen that the efficiencies drop significantly to 80, 75, and 70, respectively.

Claims (14)

A toner particle comprising a binder resin and carbon black dispersed in the binder resin, a carbon black dispersant, a charge control agent, and a wax,
The average particle diameter of the carbon black aggregate formed in the toner particles is 400 nm or less,
0.2 to more than 0.1 d of the number (N ¹ ) of carbon black aggregates present in the range from the surface of the toner particles to within 0.1 d of the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles and the longest diameter (d) of the toner particles The polymerized toner having a ratio (N ² / N ¹ ) of the number (N ² ) of carbon black aggregates present in the range up to d within 60% to 75%. The method of claim 1,
The binder resin is a polymerized toner comprising at least one polymer selected from the group consisting of styrene monomer, acrylate monomer, methacrylate monomer, diene monomer, acidic olefin monomer and basic olefin monomer. The method of claim 1,
The binder resin is (a) a styrene monomer; And (b) a polymer of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer, and a diene monomer. The method of claim 2,
The polymer may comprise at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of the styrene monomer of (a), (b) an acrylate monomer, a methacrylate monomer and a diene monomer, and (c) an acidic olefin monomer and a basic monomer. Polymerized toner which is a polymer of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of olefinic monomers. The method of claim 1,
A polymerized toner comprising 50 to 95% by weight of binder resin, 1 to 20% by weight of carbon black, 0.1 to 20% by weight of carbon black dispersant, 0.1 to 5% by weight of charge control agent, and 0.1 to 30% by weight of wax. The method of claim 1,
The toner particles further comprise at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a reaction initiator, a crosslinking agent, a molecular weight regulator, a lubricant, and a coupling agent. The method of claim 6,
50 to 95 wt% binder resin; 1 to 20 weight percent carbon black; 0.1 to 20% by weight carbon black dispersant; 0.1 to 5 weight percent charge control agent; And 0.1-30 wt% wax; And 10 wt% or less of at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a reaction initiator, a crosslinking agent, a molecular weight regulator, a lubricant, and a coupling agent. Forming an aqueous dispersion comprising a dispersant;
Forming a monomer mixture comprising a monomer for a binder resin, a carbon black, a carbon black dispersant, a charge control agent and a wax; And
Adding the monomer mixture to the aqueous dispersion and forming toner particles through suspension polymerization
Including,
The step of forming the monomer mixture further comprises the step of milling for 10 to 120 min with a bead mill under a stirring speed of 8,000 to 20,000 rpm after the addition of carbon black. Method for producing a polymerized toner. The method of claim 8,
And the dispersant comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of an inorganic dispersant, a water-soluble organic polymer dispersant, and an anionic surfactant. The method of claim 8,
And the monomer mixture further comprises at least one additive selected from the group consisting of a reaction initiator, a crosslinking agent, and a molecular weight adjusting agent. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the carbon black is plasma treated. The method of claim 8,
The carbon black has a mean particle size of 50 nm or less. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the milling process is performed by adding 20 to 50 parts by weight of beads with respect to 100 parts by weight of the monomer mixture. The method of claim 8,
Forming the toner particles,
Adding the monomer mixture to the aqueous dispersion;
Applying shear force to the aqueous dispersion and monomer mixture to homogenize the monomer mixture in the form of droplets in the aqueous dispersion; And
Suspension polymerizing the homogenized monomer mixture
Method for producing a polymerized toner comprising a.

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