A photoreceptor charging method using conductive magnetic brush in contact with the photoconductor surface was studied.
Magnetic powders here employed to form magnetic brush were zinc-copper ferrite, apparent specific resistivities of which were 10
4, 10
5, 10
8 and 10
9 &Ohm;·cm. Spacing between the magnetic roller and the photoreceptor was varied in the range from 0.7 to 1.3 mm, while the spacing between the ferrite powder thickness regulating doctor blade and the magnetic roller was kept constant at 0.9 mm.
While, for the contact charging using conductive rubber roller, the threshold DC voltage where the photoconductor surface potential begins to rise is reported to be equal to the value predicted from the Paschen's law and also to the threshold AC voltage where the surface potential reaches a plateau, the threshold DC voltage here found was significantly lower than that predicted from the Paschen's law and than the threshold AC voltage. The followings were found to be necessary to attain uniform charging and to avoid charging failure or so-called 'banding' even in the presence of pinhole defects on the photoconductor surface ; apparent specific resistivity of the ferrite powder should be around 10
8 &Ohm;·cm, AC bias amplitude should exceed certain threshold values determined by the ferrite powder resistivity, and the doctor blade spacing should be larger than the magnetic roller-to-photoreceptor spacing so as to compress the ferrite powder in the latter spacing.
Ferrite powder here used had a low but distinct adsorption surface area and showed a zero-order catalytic activity for ozone decomposition, indicating that the adsorption site of the ferrite surface is completely occupied by ozone molecules, and accordingly, the decomposition reaction is presumably desorption limited reaction. Observed anomalously sharp decrease in ozone concentration accompanying the rotation of the magnetic brush is understandable in this context.
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