Cationic polymer and inkjet recording sheet

Details Cationic polymer and inkjet recording sheet Cationic polymer and inkjet recording sheet

2002-10-24

2004-06-01

Pezzuto, Helen L (Department: 1713)

Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser

Synthetic resins

At least one aryl ring which is part of a fused or bridged...

C524S516000, C524S523000, C428S311710, C428S447000, C428S511000, C526S279000, C526S286000, C526S310000, C526S312000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06743850

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new cationic polymer, and a recording material suitable for inkjet recording using a liquid ink such as an aqueous ink, an oil-based ink, or a solid ink which is in a solid state at ambient temperature and is melted and liquefied to be supplied for printing. Specifically, the invention relates to a cationic polymer which can easily be reacted with inorganic pigment particles, and an inkjet recording sheet with superior ink receptivity.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with the rapid development of the information industry, various information-processing systems have been developed. Recording methods and devices suitable for the information systems have also been developed, and have been put to practical use.
The inkjet recording method, among the above-mentioned recording methods, has come to be widely used not only for office use but also for home use, for the following reasons: recording onto various recording materials is possible; the hardware is relatively inexpensive and compact; the recording is not noisy, and so on.
With the recent improvement in the resolution of inkjet printers, high quality photograph-like recordings have been made possible. Furthermore, with the development of hardware, various recording sheets for inkjet recording have also been developed.
In general, inkjet recording sheets require the following characteristcs: (1) an instantly drying property (the sheet should posses a fast ink-absorbing rate); (2) proper and even ink dot diameter (ink does not bleed on the sheet); (3) good granularity; (4) high degree of ink dot roundness; (5) high color density of ink; (6) high chroma of ink high (the ink is note dulled); (7) good light resistance and water resistance of portions to be printed; (8) high whiteness; (9) good storability (the sheet is not yellowed or colored with long-term storage); (10) superior in dimensional stability and not easily deformed (curling is minimized); and (11) good traveling performance of the sheet in hardware. Furthermore for photo glossy paper used to obtain high quality photograph like recordings, in addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, the sheet should also possess glossiness, surface smoothness, good texture similar to silver salt photographs, and so on.
In order to improve these characteristics, inkjet recording sheets that possess a colorant-accepting layer having a porous structure and a superior ink-absorbing ability (instant drying) and glossiness have been developed and put into practical use.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 62-178384 and Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 3-24905 disclose recording materials having a colorant-accepting layer containing silica particles subjected to surface-treatment with a silane coupling agent. The surface activity of the silica particles drops so that the weather resistance of the sheet is improved; however, cohesive force between the silica particles also drops so that the coating film strength of the colorant-accepting layer is weakened.
When a solution wherein the silica is dispersed is mixed with a binder such as PVA, the silica-dispersed solution condenses so that the viscosity of the solution increases, worsening the stability thereof. Therefore, the particle size of the silica particles dispersed in the solution enlarges and negatively affects the glossiness, coating film strength, ink-absorbancy, water resistance, printing density, and so on. Printing density is particularly affected, and greatly decreased.
JP-A No. 2001-10209 discloses an inkjet recording sheet containing inorganic pigment particles, a silane coupling agent having an ammonia structure, and a cationic resin. However, this inkjet recording sheet is obtained by applying the inorganic particles and the cationic resin, in the form of a single solution, onto the surface of a substrate. Thus, condensation is caused between the cationic resin and the inorganic particles having anionic charges. As a result, various performances of the inkjet recording sheet cannot be sufficiently exhibited.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As described above, under the present circumstances, there has not yet been provided any inkjet recording sheet which is strong because of its colorant-accepting layer wherein no cracks are generated, has a good ink-absorbing ability to make it possible to form a high-resolution image, has such an ink receptivity that the formed image is superior in water resistance and resistance against stain with ink with the passage of time, and further has superior printing density, sharpness and glossiness of the image,
The present invention can overcome the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and attain the following objects.
A first object of the invention is to provide a cationic polymer which is easily reacted with inorganic pigment particles to prevent the condensation thereof.
A second object of the invention is to provide an inkjet recording sheet which can exhibit a high printing density of images.
A third object of the invention is to provide an inkjet recording sheet which is not cracked to be strong, has a good ink-absorbing ability so that a high-resolution image can be formed, has superior glossiness, water resistance and resistance against stain with ink with the passage of time after printing, and exhibits high light resistance even under irradiation with light such as sunlight or fluorescent light.
The invention which can overcome the above-mentioned problems is as follows:
1) A cationic polymer represented by the following general formula (A):
wherein X
1
, X
2
and X
3
each independently represent a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms or an alkoxy group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms or an aryloxy group, each of which may contain a saturated or unsaturated cyclic structure; at least one of X
1
, X
2
and X
3
represents the alkoxy group or the aryloxy group; Y represents a bivalent linking group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, which may have a substituent and may have therein a linking heteroatom; B represents at least one recurring unit which can be copolymerized with A; m and n represent the mole ratios of the A component and the B component, respectively, 0.2≦m≦1.0, and 0≦n≦0.8 (m+n=1.0); R
1
represents a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms; R
2
, R
3
and R
4
each independently represent a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, an aryl group or an aralkyl group, each of which may have a substituent and may be linked to form a saturated or unsaturated cyclic structure; Z represents —O— or —NH—; Y
2
represents a bivalent linking group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, which may have therein a linking heteroatom; and X
−
represents an anion.
2) An inkjet recording sheet, which having, on a substrate, a colorant-accepting layer containing cationic polymer modified inorganic pigment particles obtained by bonding inorganic pigment particles to a cationic polymer having, at its terminal, a group which can be bonded to the inorganic pigment particles.
3) An inkjet recording sheet, wherein the cationic polymer having, at its terminal, the group which can be bonded to the inorganic pigment particles has the group which can be bonded to the inorganic pigment particles at only the single terminal.
4) An inkjet recording sheet, wherein the group which can be bonded to the inorganic pigment particles is an alkoxysilyl group.
5) An inkjet recording sheet, wherein the cationic polymer having, at its terminal, the group which can be bonded to the inorganic pigment particles is represented by the following general formula (1):
wherein X
1
, X
2
and X
3
each independently represent a hydrogen atom, or an alkyl group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms or an alkoxy group having 1 to 8 carbon atoms or an aryloxy group, each of which may contain a saturated or unsaturated cyclic structure; at least one of X
1
, X
2
and X
3
represents the alkoxy group or the aryloxy gro

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