FUSER MEMBER WITH FLUOROPOLYMER OUTER LAYER

• Main Authors: CHEN JIANN-HSING, SHIH PO-JEN, PICKERING JERRY A
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 30.06.2011
• Subjects: CINEMATOGRAPHY; ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; HOLOGRAPHY; LAYERED PRODUCTS; LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT ORNON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM; MAGNETOGRAPHY; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAPHY; PHYSICS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; TRANSPORTING

A fuser member comprising: a substrate comprising an outer substrate surface; and an outer layer comprising compatible first and second fluorothermoplastics disposed over the outer substrate surface, wherein the first fluorothermoplastic is a crosslinked polymer and the second fluorothermoplastic is a linear polymer and wherein the compatible first and second fluorothermoplastics form a semi-interpenetrating polymer network (SIPN). The SIPN provides a relatively compliant layer in comparison to use of the crosslinked polymer alone, and avoids the need for sintering of a layer formed from the linear polymer alone. The SIPN may be formed from an aqueous coated composition of polyperfluoroalkoxy-tetrafluoroethylene (PFA) and THV Fluoroplastics (FLC) polymers along with a soluble organic primary amine for crosslinking the THV Fluoroplastics (FLC).