Preparing poly styrene-co-acrylic acid and recycled waste magnetite composite from concrete industry as a printing ink

Abstract

The main element of electrophotographic (EP) printing and copying devices is a polymeric composite called toner and one of the most significant components of toner composite is an iron oxide (magnetite). Magnetite, which is applied as a colorant and additive for toner is the main mineral able to develop an electrical charge on the printing procedure. Although there are several ways to produce magnetite, given the dearth of resources and environmental aspect, it is safer to practice recycling and greener method. In the present study, an encouraging way to reuse the magnetite particles as a byproduct of the preparation of micro silica in the concrete industry was described. The obtained magnetite was then utilized as the charge control agent to produce magnetite/carbon black/styrene co-butyl acrylate composite microspheres by green emulsion aggregation method, which is used as toner in the printing procedure. Characterization of toner and recovered magnetite was done by X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Atomic Gradient Force Magnetometry (AGFM), Particle Size Analysis (PSA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX). The results supported the fact that the produced toner composite by recycled waste magnetite show suitable characteristics comparing to an industrial toner.