Research On Ink-jet Paper Coating Preparaed By Cationic Modified Mesporous Silica And The Performance Of Ink-jet Printing

Inkjet is a digital printing process where the ink is ejected directly onto a substratefrom a jet device driven by an electronic signal. Most inkjet inks have a low viscosityand a low surface tension, which put high demands on the porosity and absorbencycharacteristics of the coating layer.The aim of this study has been to gain an increased knowledge of the mechanismsthat control the sorption and fixation of inkjet inks on coated papers. The focus has beenon printability aspects of high print quality (although not photgraphic quali-ty)laboratory-coated inkjet papers for printers using aqueous-based inks. In the paper,the monodisperse mesoporous silica nanopartcle and the inkjet paper coating of it wasprepared. The factors (solvent/catalyst/template/silicon source) that will influence thesize and monodispersion of mesoporous silica were studied.In the process of preparingthe coating,the influence of the concentration of the cationic fixing agent (PEI) and thebinder (PVA) on the property of the coating were studied.By studying the surface ener-gy,contact angle and comparatively analyzing the printing performance of the coat-ing,the optimum ratio of components was obtained.In the case of adding2pphPEI and30pph PVA,the coating gave the best performance.Two different pigment particles and the performance of their coatings were com-paratively analyzed. Silica gel required two to three times the amount of binder com-pared to surfactant-templated mesoporous silica pigments with small pores and narrowpore size distribution.The binder demand of the silica pigments was strongly related totheir pore size distributions. This finding was attributed to the significant penetration ofPVA binder into the pores in the silica gel, thereby, increasing its binder demand. Fur-thermore, this binder penetration reduced the effective internal pore volume availablefor rapid drainage of the ink vehicle. Consequently, the surfactant-templated pigmentsrequired significantly lower amounts of binder, and gave improvements in print qualityrelative to the commercial pigmentBy studying the infiltration property and the colourant fixation performance of thecoating, it was found that the coating with the highest surface energy did not gave thebest printability.When the contact angle of the ink and coating was between70-80°,printing quality was the best. Cationic modification agent can effectively improve printquality of the image, and improve the water resistance property.