Fixing member, fixing device, and electrophotographic image-forming apparatus
Provided is a fixing member for electrophotography having excellent toner releasability even when used for a long time period. The fixing member includes a base layer, an elastic layer, and a surface layer in the stated order. The surface layer contains a fluorine resin and a fluorine oil having a perfluoropolyether structure. The mass P 11 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil, adhered in the unit area of the detection surface of a QCM sensor when a measurement sample collected from the surface layer is subjected to a predetermined treatment (i), is 1.0×10 2 ng or more and 1.0×10 4 ng or less, and the mass P 12 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil, adhered in the unit area of the detection surface of the QCM sensor when the sample is subjected to a predetermined treatment (ii), is 0.5×P 11 or more and 1.2×P 11 or less.
1. A fixing member for electrophotography comprising in stated order in a thickness direction thereof:
a base layer;
an elastic layer; and
a surface layer on the elastic layer,
wherein the elastic layer contains a silicone rubber,
wherein the surface layer is constituted by a single layer,
wherein the surface layer contains a fluorine resin and a fluorine oil having a perfluoropolyether structure, and
wherein the fixing member satisfies a requirement (i) and a requirement (ii):
(i) as for a measurement sample taken from the fixing member and including a total thickness portion of the surface layer, when subjecting to a treatment including cleaning a predetermined position on a first surface which is an opposite side to a side facing the base layer, and pressing a detection surface of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against the position at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass P 11 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in a unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is 1.0×10 2 ng to 1.0×10 4 ng; and
(ii) as for the measurement sample subjected to the treatment defined in the requirement (i), when subjecting to a treatment including, after cleaning of the position, placing the measurement sample in an environment of a temperature of 180° C. for 120 sec, and then pressing the detection surface of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against the position at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass P 12 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in the unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is 0.5×P 11 to and 1.2×P 11 .
2. A fixing member for electrophotography comprising in stated order in a thickness direction thereof:
a base layer;
an elastic layer; and
a surface layer on the elastic layer,
wherein the elastic layer contains a silicone rubber,
wherein the surface layer is constituted by a single layer,
wherein the surface layer contains a fluorine resin and a fluorine oil having a perfluoropolyether structure,
wherein as for a measurement sample taken from the fixing member and including a total thickness portion of the surface layer,
when pressing a detection surface of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against a first surface which is an opposite side to a side facing the base layer at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in a unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is defined as P 11 (ng), and
when pressing the detection surface of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against a second surface which is the side facing the base layer of the measurement sample at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in the unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface is defined as P 21 (ng):
P 21> P 11.
3. The fixing member according to claim 1 , wherein a content of the fluorine oil in the surface layer is 1.0 mass % to 25 mass % of the surface layer.
4. The fixing member according to claim 1 , wherein the P 11 is 1.0×10 2 ng to 5.0×10 3 ng.
5. The fixing member according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine resin is a tetrafluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA).
6. The fixing member according to claim 1 , wherein the surface layer has a thickness of 5.0 μm to 50 μm.
7. The fixing member according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine oil is a perfluoropolyether.
8. The fixing member according to claim 7 , wherein the perfluoropolyether has a chemical structure represented by structural formula (1):
wherein, in the structural formula (1), “a”, “b”, “c”, “d”, “e”, and “f” each independently represents 0 or a positive integer, and satisfy 1≤a+b+c+d+e+f≤600, and at least one of “a”, “b”, “c”, or “d” represents a positive integer.
9. The fixing member according to claim 8 , wherein the perfluoropolyether has at least one chemical structure selected from the group consisting of structural formulae (2) to (4):
wherein, in the structural formulae (2) to (4), “m” and “n” each independently represents an integer of 1 or more.
10. The fixing member according to claim 9 , wherein the perfluoropolyether has a chemical structure represented by the formula (3), the P 11 is 1.0×10 2 ng to 5.0×10 3 ng, and a content of the perfluoropolyether in the surface layer is 1.0 mass % to 25 mass % of the surface layer.
11. The fixing member according to claim 1 , wherein the fixing member is a fixing belt having an endless belt shape.
12. A fixing device comprising:
a fixing member; and
heating unit for heating the fixing member,
wherein the fixing member comprises in stated order in a thickness direction thereof:
a base layer;
an elastic layer; and
a surface layer on the elastic layer,
wherein the elastic layer contains a silicone rubber,
wherein the surface layer is constituted by a single layer, and
wherein the surface layer contains a fluorine resin and a fluorine oil having a perfluoropolyether structure, and
wherein the fixing member satisfies a requirement (i) and a requirement (ii):
(i) as for a measurement sample taken from the fixing member and including a total thickness portion of the surface layer, when subjecting to a treatment including cleaning a predetermined position on a first surface which is an opposite side to a side facing the base layer, and pressing a detection surface of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against the position at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass P 11 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in a unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is 1.0×10 2 ng to 1.0×10 4 ng; and
(ii) as for the measurement sample subjected to the treatment defined in the requirement (i), when subjecting to a treatment including, after cleaning of the position, placing the measurement sample in an environment of a temperature of 180° C. for 120 sec, and then pressing the detection surface of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against the position at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass P 12 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in the unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is 0.5×P 11 to 1.2×P 11 .
13. The fixing device according to claim 12 , wherein the fixing member is a fixing belt having an endless belt shape, and the heating unit is a heater arranged so as to be brought into contact with an inner peripheral surface of the fixing belt.
14. An electrophotographic image-forming apparatus comprising a fixing device, wherein the fixing device comprises:
a fixing member; and
heating unit for heating the fixing member,
wherein the fixing member comprises in stated order in a thickness direction thereof:
a base layer;
an elastic layer; and
a surface layer on the elastic layer,
wherein the elastic layer contains a silicone rubber,
wherein the surface layer is constituted by a single layer, and
wherein the surface layer contains a fluorine resin and a fluorine oil having a perfluoropolyether structure, and
wherein the fixing member satisfies a requirement (i) and a requirement (ii):
(i) as for a measurement sample taken from the fixing member and including a total thickness portion of the surface layer, when subjecting to a treatment including cleaning a predetermined position on a first surface which is an opposite side to a side facing the base layer, and pressing a detection surface of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against the position at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass P 11 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in a unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is 1.0×10 2 ng to 1.0×10 4 ng; and
(ii) as for the measurement sample subjected to the treatment defined in the requirement (i), when subjecting to a treatment including, after cleaning of the position, placing the measurement sample in an environment of a temperature of 180° C. for 120 sec, and then pressing the detection surface of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor against the position at a pressure of 0.4 MPa and a temperature of 180° C. for 50 msec, a mass P 12 of an adhered substance including the fluorine oil having the perfluoropolyether structure, adhered in the unit area (1 cm 2 ) of the detection surface, is 0.5×P 11 to 1.2×P 11 .