On a computer screen, smaller pixels produce sharper pictures. It's the same with t
he toner that's used to form the images printed on a laser printer or copier: Smaller
particles mean sharper images - plus lower cost per print.
But as toner particles become smaller, the cost of making them by current technology
rises exponentially. Several years ago, Xerox Corporation researchers realized that
toner made by their current technology had just about reached the lower limit in size,
and they started looking for a new way to make it.
Toner is the "dry ink" for laser printers and copiers. It's a mixture of plastic
resin, colorant and other toner ingredients. Today, most toner is made by "melt mixing"
the ingredients into strands that are pulverized into small particles - a process
that's both inexact and energy intensive. Because the particles are smashed at random,
their size cannot be precisely controlled. Some are too big and others too fine, so
they are mechanically sorted to achieve required toner size and size distribution.
It's like sifting dust. This method produces toner with average size greater than 7
microns in diameter; making it smaller is not economically practical.
Materials scientists at Xerox Research Centre of Canada (Mississauga, Ontario) under
the direction of Hadi Mahabadi -- and in conjunction with the Xerox Supplies Delivery
Unit and Fuji Xerox in Japan -- developed a chemical approach to economically creating
even smaller toner particles. They started at the molecular level and perfected a way
to grow toner particles under controlled conditions to exactly the size, shape and
structure needed. They could make round or potato-shaped toner particles of about
3-5 microns in diameter - so small that it takes 100 of them to make the period at
the end of this sentence. These toner particles produce prints with sharper images,
plus the resulting prints use less toner and therefore cost less. Prints using a
5-micron toner require 40 percent less toner than those made by a 9-micron toner.
The new process, called emulsion aggregation or EA for short, turned out to have
added benefits. It will require less energy to make, generate less waste, contribute
to printer reliability, and cut the time it takes for printers to recover from
energy-saving sleep modes. It is protected by a portfolio of more than 400 patents.
The first generation of printers to use EA toner will soon be available. Announced
in June, the DocuColor 1632 Printer/Copier and the DocuColor 2240 Printer/Copier
produce color prints and copies for less than 10 cents per page -- a new cost
benchmark for products in this class.
Xerox Corporation, one of the world's top technology innovators, spends about $1
billion annually on research and development. It operates six research centers
in the United States, Canada and Europe that conduct work in color science,
computing, digital imaging, work practices, novel materials and other disciplines.
Xerox consistently builds its innovation into business by embedding it in superior
Xerox products and solutions, using it as the foundation of new spinoffs, or
licensing or selling it to other entities.
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New EA Toner Process Breaks the Size Barrier, Promises Better Resolution