Photothermographic materials containing print stabilizers

1. A black-and-white photothermographic material comprising a support having on at least one side thereof, one or more photothermographic imaging layers comprising in reactive association:

a. a photosensitive silver halide,

b. a non-photosensitive source of reducible silver ions,

c. a reducing agent for said reducible silver ions, and

d. a polymeric binder,

said material further comprising a sulfonyldiphenol in an amount of at least 0.01 mmol/m 2 .

2. The material of claim 1 having layers coated out of organic solvents and said polymeric binder is a hydrophobic binder.

3. The material of claim 1 wherein said sulfonyldiphenol is a 4,4′-sulfonyldiphenol that is represented by the following Structure (SDP):

wherein R 1 through R 8 are independently hydrogen or halo, alkyl, alkoxy, cyano, nitro, trihaloalkyl, ester, ketone, or haloalkyl groups.

4. The material of claim 3 wherein R 1 through R 8 are independently hydrogen or bromo, chloro, methyl, or ethyl groups.

5. The material of claim 3 wherein R 1 through R 4 are independently hydrogen or bromo, chloro, methyl, or ethyl groups, and each of R 5 through R 8 is hydrogen.

6. The material of claim 1 wherein said sulfonyldiphenol is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 6 mmol/m 2 .

7. The material of claim 1 wherein said sulfonyldiphenol is one or more of the following Compounds SDP-1 through SDP-3:

8. The material of claim 1 further comprising a high contrast enhancing agent, co-developer, or both.

9. The material of claim 8 wherein said high contrast enhancing agent or co-developer is a substituted acrylonitrile compound, a trityl hydrazide or formyl phenyl hydrazide, substituted isoxazole, substituted malondialdehyde, cyclic enol, hydroxylamine, alkanolamine, ammonium phthalamate, hydroxamic acid, N-acylhydrazine, or hydrogen atom donor compound.

10. The material of claim 1 wherein the total amount of silver is less than 1.9 g/m 2 .

11. The material of claim 1 wherein said silver halide is present as silver bromide or silver iodobromide grains having an average grain size of from about 20 to about 60 nm.

12. The material of claim 1 further comprising a protective overcoat layer disposed over said photothermographic layer, and interlayer, carrier layer, or any combination thereof, wherein any of the protective overcoat layer, interlayer, and carrier layer includes said sulfonyldiphenol.

13. The material of claim 1 wherein said sulfonyldiphenol is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 2 mmol/m 2 .

14. The material of claim 1 wherein said reducing agent is a mixture of two or more hindered monophenol reducing agents, hindered bisphenol reducing agents, and hindered trisphenol reducing agents.

15. The material of claim 1 having a total silver coverage of from about 1 to about 2.6 g/m 2 .

16. The material of claim 1 wherein said sulfonyldiphenol is

17. A method of forming a visible black-and-white image comprising:

A) imagewise exposing the photothermographic material of claim 1 to electromagnetic radiation to form a latent image, and

B) simultaneously or sequentially, heating said exposed photothermographic material to develop said latent image into a visible image.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said imagewise exposing is carried out using laser imaging at from about 600 to about 1200 nm and said development is carried out for 20 seconds or less.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein said sulfonyldiphenol is a 4,4′-sulfonyldiphenol that is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 6 mmol/m 2 , and is represented by the following Structure (SDP):

wherein R 1 through R 8 are independently hydrogen or halo, alkyl, alkoxy, cyano, nitro, trihaloalkyl, ester, ketone, and haloalkyl groups.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein said photothermographic material comprises a 4,4′-sulfonyldiphenol that is

and is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 6 mmol/m 2 .