Effect of Micro- and Nanomagnetite on Printing Toner Properties

Toner is a main component of electrophotographic printing and copying processes. One of the most important ingredients of toner is magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) which provides the tribocharging property for toner particles. In this study, nano- and microparticles of Fe(3)O(4) were synthesized using the coprecipitation method and different amounts of lauric acid as a surfactant. The synthesized nano and micro Fe(3)O(4) was then used as the charge control agent to produce toner by emulsion aggregation. The Fe(3)O(4) and toner were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), atomic gradient force magnetometry (AGFM), dynamic laser scattering (DLS), particle size analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the optimum amount of surfactant not only reduced particle size but also reduced the magnetite properties of Fe(3)O(4). It was found that the magnetite behavior of the toner is not similar to the Fe(3)O(4) used to produce it. Although small-sized Fe(3)O(4) created toner with a smaller size, toners made with micro Fe(3)O(4) showed better magnetite properties than toner made with nano Fe(3)O(4).