| abstract |
Ink-jet inks for ink-jet printing are provided which include a vehicle and a colorant, the colorant associated with a primer core/shell polymer to form a primer/colorant combination, and the primer/colorant combination, upon printing on a print medium, encapsulated by a durable core/shell polymer. The primer core/shell polymer serves to promote adhesion of the durable core/shell polymer to the colorant and to disperse the colorant in the ink and the durable core/shell polymer serves to provide a smear-fast film upon drying of the ink on a print medium. The primer core/shell polymer comprises a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic shell comprising a polar component, while the durable core/shell polymer comprises a hydrophobic core comprising a first Tg component, which, when homopolymerized, has a glass transition temperature, Tg, between -150 °C to +25 °C and a second Tg component, which, when homopolymerized, has a glass transition temperature above +25 °C and a hydrophilic shell selected from the group consisting of neutral shells, cationic shells, and anionic shells. |