Ink-jet recording material suitable for pigment ink

1. An ink-jet recording material having on a support multiple ink-receiving layers each comprising pigment and binder, which are suitable for an ink-jet process using pigment ink, said material further containing in the uppermost layer of said ink-receiving layers at least one water-soluble acidic or neutral metal salt selected from the group consisting of aluminum salts, magnesium salts, sodium salts, potassium salts and zinc salts, wherein the water-soluble metal salt is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 10 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of pigment in the uppermost ink-receiving layer, and wherein the layer or layers that are not the uppermost layer contain no or substantially no water-soluble acidic or neutral metal salt.

2. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 1 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt contains, as its constituent anion, an anion selected from the group consisting of sulfate ion, chloride ion, thiosulfate ion, nitrate ion and acetate ion.

3. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 2 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is magnesium sulfate, aluminum sulfate, sodium thiosulfate or potassium thiosulfate.

4. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 3 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is magnesium sulfate.

5. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 3 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is aluminum sulfate.

6. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 3 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is sodium thiosulfate.

7. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 3 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is potassium thiosulfate.

8. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 1 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 8 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of pigment in the uppermost ink-receiving layer.

9. An ink-jet recording material according to claim 1 , wherein the multiple ink-receiving layers are two ink-receiving layers.

10. An ink-jet recording material according to claim 1 , wherein the coverage of the uppermost ink-receiving layer is 3 to 5 g/m 2 .

11. An ink-jet recording material according to claim 8 , wherein the coverage of the uppermost ink-receiving layer is 3 to 5 g/m 2 .

12. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 8 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is magnesium sulfate.

13. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 10 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is magnesium sulfate.

14. An ink-jet recording material as described in claim 11 , wherein the water-soluble metal salt is magnesium sulfate.

15. An ink-jet recording material according to claim 8 , wherein the multiple ink-receiving layers are two ink-receiving layers.

16. An ink-jet recording material according to claim 10 , wherein the multiple ink-receiving layers are two ink-receiving layers.

17. An ink-jet recording material according to claim 11 , wherein the multiple ink-receiving layers are two ink-receiving layers.

18. A method of preparing an ink-jet recording material according to claim 1 , comprising providing multiple ink-receiving layers on a support, each layer comprising pigment and binder, which are suitable for an ink-jet process using pigment ink, the uppermost layer of said ink-receiving layers further containing at least one water-soluble acidic or neutral metal salt selected from the group consisting of aluminum salts, magnesium salts, sodium salts, potassium salts and zinc salts, wherein the water-soluble metal salt is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 10 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of pigment in the uppermost ink-receiving layer, and wherein the layer or layers that are not the uppermost layer contain no or substantially no water-soluble acidic or neutral metal salt.

19. In an ink-jet recording process, the improvement wherein is the use of an ink-jet recording material according to claim 1 .