Tribo modified toner materials via silylation and electrostatographic imaging process

An electrostatographic imaging process comprising the steps of providing an electrostatographic imaging member having a recording surface, forming an electrostatic latent image on said recording surface, and contacting said electrostatic latent image with a developer mixture comprising finely-divided toner particles electrostatically clinging to the surface of solid carrier particles, said toner particles having an average particle diameter of less than about 30 microns and comprising a colorant and a copolymer selected from the group consisting of styrene-alkylmethacrylate and styrene-alkylacrylate wherein said copolymer has been modified to contain active hydrogen containing constituents and then exposed to silylation to provide toner particles characterized as having controlled and optimum triboelectric charging properties between said toner particles and said carrier particles whereby at least a portion of said finely-divided toner particles are attracted to and deposited on said recording surface in conformance with said electrostatic latent image.