Pigments for Ink Receptor Layers - Characterisation and Assessment

摘要

The popularity of colour ink jet printing has increased rapidly in recent years. The quality of images produced by these printers is affected by several factors, including the type of media. To meet the demand of consumers in print quality, base paper is often coated with an ink receptor layer (IRL). The primary components of the IRL are silica with a hydrophilic binder such as poly(vinyl alcohol). Silica offers a high level of liquid absorption, however, it exhibits poor affinity for dyes contained within ink jet inks. To overcome this deficiency, a small amount of cationic polymer is typically included in the IRL formulation. This paper discusses the development of a method to rapidly screen pigments for their dye affinity. This is seen as a necessary step to develop new pigments suitable for inclusion in IRLs. A series of commercially available pigments that are used in IRL formulations were tested and their dye affinity compared. Silica displayed a poor dye affinity, while surface modified cationic silica exhibited excellent dye affinity.