Toner external additives, Perovskite solar cell transmission layer, and the magical effects of nano-tin dioxide SnO2!!

Kelly Chemical offers a variety of high-spec carbon powder external additives, such as nano-silica, nano-tin dioxide, etc., which can undergo different surface treatments according to customer needs.

Carbon powder is mainly composed of resin, colorants, charge control agents, wax, etc. Typically, it needs to be mixed with external additives to achieve the desired imaging effect in printers or copiers.

Commonly used external additives are inorganic oxide particles that have undergone hydrophobic treatment. Their performance characteristics directly affect the electrostatic properties and environmental stability of carbon powder. The most commonly used ones are silica (SiO₂), titanium dioxide (TiO₂), and tin dioxide (SnO₂).

The primary function of external additives in carbon powder is to improve the flowability of carbon powder particles, prevent aggregation between them, and enhance the transfer efficiency of carbon powder in printing systems. Carbon powder particles are micron-sized particles, and their main component is resin. Therefore, under certain temperature and humidity conditions, they may agglomerate and clump over time. With the increasing demand for low-temperature fixing performance, more and more carbon powders use resins with higher flexibility and lower glass transition temperatures as the main components.

Therefore, improving flowability is the main function of external additives. In the same amount of addition, the smaller the primary particle size, the higher the flowability of the carbon powder. Depending on the different surface treatment agents, the external additives treated with HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) show the best improvement in flowability, followed by DDS (dimethyldichlorosilane), and then PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane).

In addition, nano tin dioxide will become the best substitute for titanium dioxide, especially in the carbon powder industry. On February 18, 2020, the EU (EC) classified powdered titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a category 2 carcinogen when inhaled. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is widely used in industries such as cosmetics, carbon powder, paints, and electrical/electronic industries. Nano tin dioxide can also be applied as a transport layer in perovskite solar cells, effectively improving the photovoltaic conversion efficiency.

Apart from the mentioned applications, there are many other possibilities. If you are interested in our products, please feel free to contact us for further discussion.

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