Effects of submicrometer particulate silica addenda on the adhesion of micrometer-size particles to a polyester-composite substrate

The force needed to detach five sets of different size particles, having number-averaged diameters between 3.6 and 8.5 µm, from a composite substrate was measured using an ultracentrifuge. In addition to size variations, the asperity concentration for each size particle was adjusted by varying the silica concentration, adjusted so that the surface area concentration at each level was kept constant for the five sizes of particles. Due to the changing silica concentration and particle size, the charge per particle also varied. It was found that the detachment force appeared to be virtually independent of charge, with any correlation actually appearing slightly negative, if anything. However, the detachment force increased monotonically with increasing particle diameter and decreased monotonically with increasing silica concentration. Moreover, upon normalizing the detachment force to the particle diameter and the silica concentration to the surface area concentration of silica, it was found that the detachment force clustered into groups in which the force needed to separate the particle from the substrate depended only on the silica concentration. These results suggest that van der Waals interaction, rather than electrostatic forces, are the dominant mechanism controlling toner adhesion in this instance.