Single layer dry processible photothermal-sensitive element
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorHoward E. Simmons, III
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photothermal-tackifiable composition, useful as a coating on a substrate, consisting of an optically clear blend of two or more polymers, one or more of which is capable of undergoing a thermochemical reaction, and a photothermosensitive compound, an infrared absorbing dye that generates locally high heat on exposure to infrared or near-infrared radiation, is disclosed. Also disclosed is a process for coating such a composition on a support, exposing the composition to infrared radiation and toning the imagewise exposed composition A "peel-apart" embodiment is also disclosed.
Claims10
A coating composition for use on a substrate comprising an optically clear blend of two or more polymers or copolymers with a near-infrared dye that generates intense heat locally upon imagewise exposure to near-infrared radiation, wherein the optically clear blend comprises:
- (a) at least one first polymer or copolymer that is tacky as a result of having a glass transition temperature T.sub.g of below room temperature;
- (b) at least one second polymer or copolymer miscible with the first polymer, said second polymer having a T.sub.g sufficiently far above room temperature so that the blend of first and second polymer(s) is not tacky at room temperature, said second polymer(s) having functional groups that are sensitive to heat, such that the reaction of functional groups in the presence of the imagewise generated heat results in a third polymer that is immiscible with the tacky polymer in the blend;
- and
- (c) a near-infrared dye that upon exposure to near-infrared radiation generates locally intense heat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.