Novel Black Pigment For Ink Jet Ink Applications
Novel Black Pigment For Ink Jet Ink Applications
Novel Black Pigment For Ink Jet Ink Applications
Applications
Joseph E. Johnson and James A. Belmont
Cabot Corporation, Billerica, Massachusetts
Introduction
Pigments have several inherent advantages over dyes as
colorants including better image durability (water-
fastness, rub resistance, and fade resistance), sharper
edge acuity, IR (bar code) readability, and heat resis-
tance. Due to these and other benefits, DuPont created a
pigmented black ink for use in the Hewlett-Packard (H-
P) 1200C ink jet printer three years ago and for the H-P
1600C earlier this year. These products have alleviated
most concerns about using pigments in ink jet inks in-
cluding poor stability, propensity to clog nozzles, and
large particle size. However, carbon black still needs to
be dispersed and stabilized, usually with the addition of
a polymer or surfactant. The resulting dispersion is dic- Figure 1. Print Optical Density vs. Colorant Concentration
tated by the surfactant properties (surface tension <40 for 3 mil draw downs
Originally published in Proc. of IS&T’s Eleventh International Colorant solutions and dispersions were drawn down at
Congress on Advances in Non-Impact Printing Technologies, a 3 mil (76.2 um) “wet” thickness on Nashua Dataprint
October 29-November 3, 1995, Hilton Head, South Carolina. Dual-Purpose Xerographic 20# uncoated paper and al-
DUASYN is a registered trademark of Hoechst Celanese; Basacid is a registered trademark of BASF.;
PRO-JET is a registered trademark of Zeneca, Ltd.
lowed to dry. The sample concentrations varied from 0.5 L* reading, contained Pigment 2. The Dye 1 draw down
to 10% by weight of colorant, except for Dye 3, which had a golden-yellow gloss, which is indicated by a high
was supplied at a 4% solid content. The O.D. readings, b* value (positive b* representing a yellow color). Dye 2
determined with a Macbeth 9015 optical densiometer, and 4 draw downs have a blue undertone (negative b*
plotted against colorant concentrations generally showed reading), while the Dye 3 film had a bronze-red sheen
an initial rise and then leveling off for the colorants (Fig- (positive a* value). The draw down with Pigment 2 has a
ure 1). Draw downs of Pigment 1 were similar in dark- lower L* value (is darker) compared to that of the glossier
ness to those of the dyes at low and high concentrations. Pigment 1. Blackness is a function of both light absor-
Pigment 2 draw downs exhibited the greatest O.D. of bance and the reciprocal of light scattering (gloss)3,4.
any colorant, at equal concentration, above a 2% load-
ing. The superior optical density of the draw downs of Table 3. L*a*b* Values of Prints Containing Different
Pigment 2 are probably due to both the colorant Colorants
adsorbing (laying on the surface) on the substrate, as
well as absorbing into the paper fibers. A higher print Colorant in Print L* a* b*
density is obtained when the colorant remains at the sur- Dye 1 30.7 0.64 5.3
face of the paper as opposed to being deeply absorbed
Dye 2 24.9 0.30 -0.12
into the fibers2.
Dye 3 31.9 4.1 0.18
Table 2. Properties of a 5% (wt.) Pigment Dispersion In Dye 4 28.4 -0.52 -0.75
Distilled Water Pigment 1 31.6 0.41 1.3
Pigment 2 24.7 1.0 3.44
Property Attribute
Particle Diameter*-Avg. < 0.10 um
Absorption Spectra of Colorants
Particle Diameter-Largest < 0.40 um
Viscosity 1.5 cP Absorption spectra of the colorants (diluted with distilled
Surface Tension 74 dyne/cm water to 3 × 10-5 g/ml) were obtained using a Perkin-Elmer
Density 1.04 g/cc Lambda-6 UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The pigments ab-
sorb throughout the visible and near infra-red region (400-
pH 6.5 900 nm), while the dyes absorb in limited parts of the visible
Stability- 70 deg. C > 6 weeks region (Figure 2). Dye 1 has a strong absorption peak at
Stability- Freeze-Thaw >3 cycles 485 nm, confirming that the draw down from this dye has a
Stability- Room Temperature > 1.5 years yellow component. Pigment 1 has a higher absorption pro-
file than that of Pigment 2, although draw downs of Pig-
Ames Test Negative
ment 2 are darker than that of Pigment 1. Prints are
* particle sizing as determined with a Leed’s & Northrup dependent upon the substrate (paper fibers and voids), the
Microtrac UPA instrument. placement of the pigments (into and on the paper), and the
interaction properties between light rays and the pigment
L*a*b* Values of Draw Downs (absorption and scattering). In a liquid dispersion the scat-
tering of light is governed by the medium (water) and the
L*a*b* readings of draw downs (4% colorant wt.) were absorption is controlled by the pigments.
determined with a Hunter LabScan II instrument (Table Black pigments are commonly used for making la-
3). As expected, the L* (lightness) values are inversely bels for IR and bar coding machines due to their absorp-
proportional to the O.D. readings of Figure 1 (i.e., the tion through out the visible and near-infra red regions. A
lower the L* reading, the darker the draw down). The dye may need an infrared absorber (e.g., heavy metal, cya-
darkest film, confirmed both visually and by the lowest nine, or anthraquinone) to be usable with such machines5.
Print Permanence
Print permanence, or light stability, is important for out-
Figure 3. Optical Density of Colorant Draw Downs as a func-
door and office light exposure as well as archival pur- tion of UV-A Exposure Time
poses. Draw downs (4% colorant wt.) were exposed to
UV-A light using a QUV Accelerated Weathering QUV/ Table 5. Print Optical Densities and Deviations Using the
SE Instrument (Q-Panel Co.) at an intensity of 0.875 W/ Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 540 Printer
m2/nm (1.25× summer daylight) and a temperature of 60
deg. C. Optical densities of the draw downs were followed Print O. D. (Avg.) %D
as a function of exposure time for fifteen days (Figure 3). H-P 51626A 1.23 3.3
The draw downs of both pigments and of one dye retained
Pigment 1 Ink 1.29 2.3
their original O.D. after the light exposure test. However,
films made with the other three dyes faded considerably. Pigment 2 Ink 1.50 2.0
References
1. H. R. Kang, Water-based Ink-Jet Ink. III. Performance
Studies, J. Imaging Sci., 35,195-201 (1991).
2. E. Suzuki, M. Sakaki, M. Katayama and T. Ohta, Record-
ing Sheets for Bubble-Jet Printing, IS&T 10th Intl. Cong.
Figure 4. “Th” characters printed with Hewlett Packard’s Adv. Non-Impact Printing Tech., New Orleans, LA., pp.
DeskJet 540 printer using: A) 51626A dye-based ink (top), 437-440 (1994).
B) Pigment 1 ink (middle), and C) Pigment 2 ink (bottom) 3. P. Kubelka, J. Opt. Soc. Am., 38, 448 (1948).
4. P. Kubelka and F. Munk, Z. Techn. Phys., 12, 593 (1931).
Runnability of Pigmented Ink 5. P. Gregory, High-Technology Applications of Organic
Colorants, Editors: A. R. Kartritzky, G. J. Sabongi, Ple-
Ink made with Pigment 1 was put in Canon and Hewlett- num Press, New York, pp. 248-251, 1991.
Packard cartridges and used in the Canon BJ-200ex and 6. J. Collins, Hewlett Packard Paper Acceptance Criteria for
H-P DeskJet 540 printers, respectively. Continuous test HP DeskJet Printers, 1994 by Hewlett Packard.