New methods for preparing organic layered photoconductors

Abstract

As E.P.A. emission requirements become more stringent with regard to effluents entering the atmosphere, and as the cost of solvents escalate, high energy radiation curing becomes a much more attractive alternative for the fabrication of layered organic photoconductors (OLP) compared to high volume thermal curing. The OLP may be composed of several layers coated sequentially on a substrate: a binder layer, a charge generation layer (CGL) and charge transport layer (CTL). The binder layer improves adhesion of the CGL to the substrate. We have employed electron beam curing to formulate the binder layer and CGL. For the latter, charge generation compounds such as chlorodiane blue (CBD) or squaraine dyes were dispersed in radiation conversion acrylates and electron beam cured at 5-10 Mrad. A CTL was overcoated, and the electrical properties of the resulting photoconductors measured on a tester used to simulate the photocopying process. The photoconductors derived from radiation cured CGLs held charge during dark decay and discharged upon illumination. These data were compared with a commercial OLP and found to behave similarly. © 1988.