Producing Ceramic Toner Via Emulsion Aggregation Method Based on ZrSiO4: Pr Ceramic Pigment

Toner is a powder mainly composed of polymer and colorant that are used as ink in electrophotographic printing. Several methods have been employed for producing toner and one of is emulsion aggregation (EA) method. The purpose of this study is to produce ceramic toner based on ZrSiO4: Pr uses emulsion aggregation method and investigate the effect of ceramic pigment synthesis method on the final properties of the toner. For synthesis of zirconium silicate pigment with Praseodymium dopant, two combustion and combinational methods were studied. Ceramic Toner characteristics were analyzed using a spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, particle size analyzer and differential scanning calorimetry. Structural studies show that the pure phase of zirconium silicate can be identified as a pure phase in the toner and toner particle size and particle size distribution is in the appropriate (4-7 μm) range for printing. Thermal analyzes show an appropriate glass transition temperature at around 77 °C. Color specification shows that in spite of a decrees in color characteristics of the ceramic pigment at the manufacturing process of the toner, after application and baking at a temperature of 1000 °C, the color is converted to a suitable yellow intensity range.