Solid ink compositions comprising crystalline-amorphous mixtures
A solid ink composition comprising an amorphous component, a crystalline material, and optionally, a colorant, which are suitable for ink jet printing, including printing on coated paper substrates. In embodiments, the solid ink formulation comprises a blend of an amorphous and crystalline components which provides a solid ink with excellent robustness when forming images or printing on coated paper substrates.
1. A phase change ink comprising:
at least a crystalline component having a viscosity of less than 12 cps at a temperature of 140° C. and a viscosity of greater than 1×10 6 cps at room temperature; and
at least an amorphous component having a viscosity of less than 100 cps at a temperature of 140° C. and a viscosity of greater than 1×10 6 cps at room temperature, wherein the crystalline component is selected from the group consisting of
stereoisomers thereof and mixtures thereof.
2. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the crystalline and amorphous components are blended in a weight ratio of from 65:35 to 95:5, respectively.
3. The phase change ink of claim 2 , wherein the crystalline and amorphous components are blended in a weight ratio of from 70:30 to 90:10, respectively.
4. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the crystalline component has a viscosity of from 0.5 to 10 cps at a temperature of 140° C.
5. The phase change ink of claim 4 , wherein the crystalline component has a viscosity of from 1 to 10 cps at a temperature of 140° C.
6. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the crystalline component exhibits crystallization (T crys ) and melting (T melt ) peaks according to differential scanning calorimetry and the difference between the peaks (T melt −T crys ) is less than 55° C.
7. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the crystalline component has a melting point of above 65° C.
8. The phase change ink of claim 7 , wherein the crystalline component has a melting point of from 65 to 130° C.
9. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the amorphous component has a viscosity of from 1 to 100 cps at a temperature of about 140° C.
10. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the amorphous component has a viscosity at least 10 6 cps at room temperature.
11. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the amorphous component has a molecular weight of less than 1000 g/mol.
12. The phase change ink of claim 11 , wherein the amorphous component has a molecular weight of from 300 to less than 1000 g/mol.
13. The phase change ink of claim 1 , wherein the amorphous component has a glass transition temperature (T g ) value of from 10 to 50° C.
14. The phase change ink of claim 13 , wherein the amorphous component has a glass transition temperature (T g ) value of from 10 to 40° C.
15. A phase change ink comprising:
at least a crystalline component having a viscosity of less than 12 cps at a temperature of 140° C. and a viscosity of greater than 1×10 6 cps at room temperature; and
at least an amorphous component having a viscosity of less than 100 cps at a temperature of 140° C. and a viscosity of greater than 1×10 6 cps at room temperature, wherein the amorphous component is selected from the group consisting of
stereoisomers thereof and mixtures thereof.