Studies on toners for textile xerography

Textile printing systems are needed that will meet the requirements of time-driven, demand activated manufacturing. Xerography has the potential of meeting these requirements, but textile specific xerographic toners must be developed to gain acceptance of this technology by the textile industry. One thermoplastic and three thermoset-based toners were evaluated for xerographic printing on fabrics (cotton, silk, Dacron, nylon). The toners were successfully applied to the fabric using xerography, however, toner transfer efficiencies to fabrics were low. The textile print properties were compared with commercial rotary screen and hand screen printed fabrics. Color fastness to crocking (rubbing) varied with type of toner and fabric characteristics such as fiber type and fabric weight. Crosslinking of thermoset toners resulted in crockfastness that was superior to conventional screen print. Surface morphological studies were used to characterize the failure mechanisms occurring during the crocking tests. Wet and dry friction properties of the printed fabrics were studied in an effort to explain the crocking results. Fabric flexibility, a key component of fabric hand, depended significantly on fabric weight. The toner type significantly affected flexibility for the lighter weight fabric, but had little effect for the heavier weight fabric. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.