Rapid mass analysis of organic pigments in toner using DEP
Introduction
Toner used in laser printers and multifunction machines (copy machines) is mainly composed of three components: polymer resin, wax, and pigment for coloring. There are four colors of toner for color printing: CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), and pigment plays an important role in creating various colors. In order to disperse pigments as solids during printing, their chemical structure has a crystalline structure and strong molecular bonds. As a result, they are less soluble in water or common organic solvents, and are also less volatile. As a result, it is difficult to qualitatively analyze the pigment itself using mass spectrometry coupled with chromatography.
DEP is a technique in which a sample is applied directly to the platinum filament at the tip of the probe and the sample is rapidly heated by passing an electric current through the filament. This makes it possible to rapidly ionize the sample while minimizing thermal decomposition. Therefore, sample pretreatment is almost unnecessary, and it is suitable for the analysis of non-volatile substances or substances that are easily thermally decomposed. In this study, we attempted rapid qualitative analysis of the organic pigments contained in toner using DEP.