Process, dispersions and use

A process for preparing an encapsulated pigment dispersion suitable for use in an ink jet printing ink comprising the following steps in the order I) followed by II):

• I) providing a dispersion comprising a pigment, a liquid medium and a dispersant comprising the repeat units from copolymerising the ethylenically unsaturated monomers in components a) to c):
• a) from 75 to 97 parts of one or more hydrophobic ethylenically unsaturated monomers having a calculated log P of at least 1 and comprising at least 50 parts benzyl (meth)acrylate;
• b) from 3 to 25 parts one or more hydrophilic ethylenically unsaturated monomers having a calculated log P of less than 1 and having one or more ionic group(s);
• c) from 0 to 2 parts of one or more hydrophilic ethylenically unsaturated monomers having a hydrophilic non-ionic group selected from the group consisting of polyethyleneoxy, polyacrylamide, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, hydroxy functional celluloses and poly vinyl alcohol;
• and
• wherein the parts are by weight and the sum of the parts a) to c) add up to 100;
• II) cross-linking the dispersant in the presence of the pigment and the liquid medium with trimethylolpropane polyglycidyl ether such that the cross-linking reaction links the dispersant molecules by covalent bonds,
• wherein the dispersant has 0.9 to 2.65 mmoles of ionic groups per g of dispersant.