AQUEOUS COMPOSITIONS AND INKJET RECEIVING MEDIA

1 . An aqueous composition for pre-treating a substrate prior to inkjet printing thereon, the aqueous composition having at least 2% solids and up to and including 90% solids, and the aqueous composition comprises the following (a), (b), and (c) components:

(a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation, which (a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation are present in an amount of at least 0.5 weight % and up to and including 30 weight %;

(b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials that are present in an amount of at least 0.1 weight % and up to and including 30 weight %; and

(c) visible light-scattering particles that have been surface-treated such that the aqueous composition has a stable zeta potential of greater than +4 millivolts, and which (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles are present in an amount of at least 5 weight % and up to and including 60 weight %,

wherein the amounts of the (a), (b), and (c) components are based on the total weight of the aqueous composition.

2 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , wherein the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles exhibit a D 50 particle size of at least 0.04 μm and up to and including 2 μm, as measured by a particle analyzer providing a volume-weighted particle size distribution.

3 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , further comprising:

(d) particles different from the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles, which (d) particles have a Rockwell Hardness of less than or equal to R90 and are present in an amount of at least 0.02 weight % and up to and including 5 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition.

4 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) crosslinkable polymeric material that is different from all of the (a), (b), and (c) components, and which (e) crosslinkable polymeric material is present in an amount of at least 0.1 weight % and up to and including 30 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition.

5 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , further comprising:

(f) a dispersing aid for the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles, which (f) dispersing aid is cationic in cumulative charge and is present in an amount of at least 0.2 weight % and up to and including 50 weight %, based on the total weight of the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles.

6 . The aqueous composition of claim 5 , wherein the (f) dispersing aid is a polymer having at least one protonated nitrogen atom, and is present in the aqueous composition in an amount of at least 1 weight % and up to and including 20 weight %, based on the total weight of the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles.

7 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , wherein the (b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials comprise one or more of a polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene imine, polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl amine, a copolymer derived at least in part from vinyl alcohol and ethylene oxide, a copolymer derived at least in part from a vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol, or a combination of two or more of these polymeric materials.

8 . The aqueous composition of claim 6 , wherein the (b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials is the same as the (f) dispersing aid.

9 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , wherein the (a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation are one or more water-soluble salts of magnesium (+2), calcium (+2), barium (+2), zinc (+2), and aluminum (+3).

10 . The aqueous composition of claim 1 , wherein the (c) surface-treated visible light scattering particles comprise silicon dioxide, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, barium sulfate, magnesium oxide, or a combination of two or more of these materials.

11 . An inkjet receiving medium comprising a substrate and a topcoat composition disposed on a surface thereof, which topcoat composition comprises the following (a), (b), and (c) components:

(a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation, which (a) one or more water-soluble salts are present in an amount of at least 0.4 weight % and up to and including 40 weight %;

(b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials that are present in an amount of at least 0.5 weight % and up to and including 90 weight %; and

(c) visible light-scattering particles that have been surface-treated and that are present in an amount of at least 6 weight % and up to and including 90 weight %,

wherein the amounts of the (a), (b), and (c) components are based on the total weight of the topcoat composition.

12 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , wherein the topcoat composition has an opacity of at least 30% and a colorimetry defined by an a* value of at least −5 and up to and including +5 and a b* value of at least −5 and up to and including +5.

13 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , wherein the substrate comprises a transparent, translucent, or metallized polymeric film, or a co-extrudate or a laminate of two or more transparent, translucent, or metallized polymeric films.

14 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , wherein the topcoat composition further comprises:

(d) particles different from the (c) component, which (d) particles have a Rockwell Hardness of less than or equal to R90, and which are present in an amount of at least 0.06 weight % and up to and including 10 weight %, based on the total weight of the topcoat composition.

15 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , wherein the topcoat composition further comprises:

(e) a crosslinkable polymeric material that is different from all of the (a), (b), and (c) components, and which (e) crosslinkable polymeric material is present in the topcoat composition in an amount of at least 0.1 weight % and up to and including 30 weight %, based on the total weight of the topcoat composition.

16 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , further comprises:

(f) a dispersing aid for the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles, which (f) dispersing aid is cationic in cumulative charge and is present in the topcoat composition in an amount of at least 0.2 weight % and up to and including 50 weight %, based on the total weight of the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles.

17 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 16 , wherein the (b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials can be the same as the (f) dispersing aid.

18 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , wherein the (a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation are one or more water-soluble salts of magnesium (+2), calcium (+2), barium (+2), zinc (+2), and aluminum (+3).

19 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 11 , wherein the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering particles comprise silicon dioxide, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, barium sulfate, magnesium oxide, or a combination of two or more of these materials.

20 . The inkjet receiving medium of claim 16 , wherein the (f) dispersing aid comprises at least a protonated polyethylene imine or protonated polyvinyl amine.

21 . A method for providing an inkjet receiving medium, the method comprising, in order:

A) providing a substrate; and

B) disposing an aqueous composition onto at least one surface of the substrate to provide a topcoat composition on the at least one surface, which aqueous composition has at least 2% solids and up to and including 90% solids, and comprises the following (a), (b), and (c) components:

(a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation, which (a) one or more water-soluble salts are present in an amount of at least 0.5 weight % and up to and including 30 weight %;

(b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials in an amount of at least 0.1 weight % and up to and including 30 weight %; and

(c) visible light-scattering particles that have been surface-treated such that the aqueous composition has a stable zeta potential of greater than +4 millivolts, and which (c) visible light-scattering particles are present in an amount of at least 5 weight % and up to and including 60 weight %,

wherein the amounts of the (a), (b), and (c) components are based on the total weight of the aqueous composition,

to provide an inkjet receiving medium having a topcoat composition on the at least one substrate surface, the topcoat composition having a dry solids coating weight of at least 0.1 g/m 2 and up to and including 10 g/m 2 .

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the substrate comprises a transparent, translucent, or metallized polymeric film, or a co-extrudate or a laminate of two or more transparent, translucent, or metallized polymeric films.

23 . The method of claim 21 , comprising disposing the aqueous composition on the at least one substrate surface in-line following preparation of the substrate.

24 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the substrate comprises a transparent, translucent, or metallized polymeric film, and the method comprising disposing the aqueous composition so that the resulting topcoat composition has a dry solids coating weight of at least 0.1 g/m 2 and up to and including 2 g/m 2 , and the aqueous composition has at least 5% solids and up to and including 70% solids, and a dynamic viscosity of at least 30 centipoise (30 mPa-sec) and up to and including 800 centipoise (800 mPa-sec) as measured at 25° C. using a Brookfield spindle viscometer, and

the aqueous composition comprises the following (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) components:

the (a) one or more water-soluble salts of a multivalent metal cation, which (a) one or more water-soluble salts of magnesium (+2), calcium (+2), barium (+2), or a mixture thereof, which (a) one or more water-soluble salts are present in an amount of at least 1 weight % and up to and including 25 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition;

(b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials that comprise at least a polyvinyl alcohol, a polyvinyl amine, a polyethylene imine, a copolymer derived at least in part from vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol, or a combination of two or more of these polymeric materials, which (b) one or more nonionic or cationic water-soluble or water-dispersible polymeric binder materials are present in an amount of at least 1 weight % and up to and including 8 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition;

(c) visible light-scattering particles comprising visible light-scattering titanium dioxide particles, which have been surface-treated and that exhibit a D 50 particle size of at least 0.04 μm and up to and including 2 μm, as measured using a particle size analyzer that provides a volume-weighted particle size distribution, and which surface-treated visible light-scattering particles are present in an amount of at least 10 weight % and up to and including 40 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition;

(d) particles different from the (c) component, which (d) particles have a Rockwell Hardness of less than or equal to R75, and which are present in an amount of at least 0.05 weight % and up to and including 3 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition;

(e) a crosslinkable polymeric material that is different from all of the (a), (b), (c), and (d) components, and which (e) crosslinkable polymeric material is present in an amount of at least 0.2 weight % and up to and including 8 weight %, based on the total weight of the aqueous composition; and

(f) a dispersing aid for the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering titanium dioxide particles, which (f) dispersing aid is a polymer having a protonated nitrogen atom, and is present in an amount of at least 0.2 weight % and up to and including 50 weight %, based on the total weight of the (c) surface-treated visible light-scattering titanium dioxide particles.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the (f) dispersing aid comprises at least protonated polyethylene imine or protonated polyvinyl amine.