Prolonged exposure of a commercial organic photoconductor in the plasma environment corresponding to an industrial electrophotographic process caused formation of a parasitic surface layer with the properties different from the original photoconductor. The parasitic film consists of a heavily oxidized surface and oxygen-free subsurface layer with the chemical composition similar to the original photoconductor but a significantly different bonding arrangement. Formation of these two regions has been correlated with damage induced by the energetic radicals and the UV photons originating from the electrophotographic plasma discharge. In-depth understanding of the formation and the properties of this parasitic layer could provide effective means to overcome its detrimental impact on the printing cost and quality.
K. Nauka, Seongsik Chang, Hou T. Ng, "Surface Modification of an Organic Photoconductor in an Electrophotographic Charging Environment" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication (NIP25), 2009, pp 204 - 207, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.2009.25.1.art00058_1