Effects of coating formulation on coating thermal properties and coated paper print quality in xerography

The effects of coating formulation on thermal characteristics of coating layers (namely thermal diffusivity, specific heat capacity and heat conductivity) were systematically studied and their impact on xerography print quality was evaluated. Model coatings were prepared using ground calcium carbonate or kaolin pigment mixed with styrene butadiene latex binder in various proportions (from 6 to 25 pph). As expected, porosity was shown to be a key parameter for thermal conductivity of the coating layers, and is mainly determined by the latex concentration. Particle size distribution (PSD) and pigment morphology also affected the thermal characteristics of the coating layers. It was found that the bulk thermal conductivity of the coating layers can be accurately predicted by a geometric mean model based on the pigment, latex and air contents. Print quality on model coated papers was evaluated in terms of print gloss, toner adhesion and pairwise visual ranking. It was demonstrated that print gloss is improved by decreasing the bulk thermal conductivity of the coatings. The coating formulated with the pigments with the steepest PSD and 10 pph of latex had a relatively low thermal conductivity and the best print quality.