Nanoparticles in toner material

Abstract

Printer toner is a material in everyday life. It is a cheap material which is distributed by many companies. Each printer and copier require specific toner material. Therefore, differences in the consistence occur concerning the size and chemical composition of the toner particles. They are known as microscaled objects which are made up of nanoparticles. The first goal of this investigation was to determine the material composition as well as the size, the shape and the possible crystallinity of the particles from three different toner materials (distributed by Hewlett-Packard, Lyreco and Epson) to turn one’s attention whether these nanoparticles can be taken for scientific investigations instead of carrying out sophisticated preparation procedures. It was found that cheap toner material can be used to obtain crystalline $$\hbox {SiO}_2$$ nanoparticles with a size of about 10–20 nm using the investigated toner material from HP and Lyreco. With benzene as solvent, they are agglomerated to particles of about 200–400 nm. Using n-hexane one gets single nanoparticles without agglomeration. Additionally, amorphous carbon nanoparticles can be gained with a size of approximately 80 nm using the toner powder from Epson. A further goal was directed to give more information concerning possible health hazards due to the use of printers and copiers which emit particle dust coming from the toner. Due to that particulate pollution inspiration can result in inflammatory processes in the lung up to lung cancer. Additionally, nanoparticles can have a toxic effect within cells and be mutagenic. For all three toner materials, the particles without dissolving show a diameter of about $$10~\upmu \hbox {m}$$ . Therefore, most of these particles should remain in the nasopharyngeal region without reaching the alveolar region.