Chemical sensitisation by sodium benzenesulphinate of photothermographic materials based on silver stearate and polyvinyl alcohol binder

Abstract

A new type of sensitiser, sodium benzenesulphinate (SBS), was used for sensitisation of water coated photothermographic (PTG) materials which were made up of ex situ AgBr, silver stearate (AgSt), polyvinyl alcohol and other functional components. The experimental results showed that (a) the sensitisation capability of SBS to PTG materials was quite effective and the maximal sensitivity relative to the unsensitised one could be increased by 30 times; (b) that the mode of sensitisation by SBS which sensitised single ex situ AgBr was better than those by SBS which sensitised either the single AgSt or the mixture of (AgBr + AgSt) in sensitivity improvement of PTG materials; (c) that the improvement in sensitivity, in addition, was dependent on sensitisation temperature and time as well as the amount of SBS.

Keywords:

• PHOTOTHERMOGRAPHIC MATERIALS
• DRY SILVER MATERIALS
• CHEMICAL SENSITISATION