Nanocolorants: A novel class of colorants, the preparation and performance characterization

Anthraquinone-based solvent red, yellow (or green), and blue dyes used as essential ingredients were completely dissolved in styrene miniemulsion system, and a set of nanocolorants were successfully prepared by using a modified miniermalsion polymerization process. In architecture, the obtained nanocolorants belong to a class of nanocomposite entities, in which a fraction of dye molecules are attached with crosslinked macromolecular chains and more dye being embedded in the interior of crosslinked polymer owed to the high hydrophobicity of dyes and phase separation between dye and polymer during the polymerization process. The performance characterization of the obtained nanocolorants indicated that they exhibited excellent chromatic properties attributed to the nanoscale effects of homogeneous nanocolorants, and really achieved superior migration fastness, light fastness, thermal stability, and good processibility. These nanocolorants are very applicable for aqueous ink-jet inks, color resistance, high-performance coloration for polymers, and for electrophotographic toners. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.