Provided are a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus each capable of suppressing an image defect (coarseness in a halftone image) caused by toner scattering in association with a charging failure that occurs when the process speed of the electrophotographic apparatus is further increased. The process cartridge includes: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; and a developing unit, which includes a toner storing portion that stores a toner, and which supplies the toner to a surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. The electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a surface protective layer containing an electroconductive particle in an appropriate amount, and the volume resistivity of the surface protective layer is controlled. As the toner, there is used a toner in which an organosilicon polymer is present on the surface of a toner particle, a silanol group is present in part of the organosilicon polymer, and the amount of the silanol group is controlled.

A process cartridge that is detachable from a main body of an electrophotographic apparatus, in which a surface protective layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member contains an electroconductive particle; the content of the electroconductive particle is 20.0 to 70.0% by volume of the surface protective layer; the surface protective layer has a volume resistivity of 1.0×10.sup.9 to 1.0×10.sup.14 Ω.Math.cm; a toner particle has at least one multivalent metal element selected from the group consisting of aluminum, magnesium, calcium, and iron; and a total content of the multivalent metal elements in the toner particle, as measured by coupled induction plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), is 0.10 to 1.25 μmol/g.

To provide an image formation device that is capable of printing without problems in chargeability, leak resistance, gas resistance, and abrasion resistance, even with a contact charging system, and an electrophotographic photoreceptor and an electrophotographic photoreceptor cartridge used in the image formation device. The problem can be solved by an image formation device of a contact charging system including a positively charging electrophotographic photoreceptor including a single layer photosensitive layer and an over coat layer containing a cured product formed by curing a curable compound.

An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.

An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.

An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.

An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.

An electrophotographic image forming system forms an electrostatic latent image on at least a photoreceptor, develops an image using an electrostatic charge image developing toner, and removes the toner using a cleaning blade. A tip ridge of the cleaning blade is pressed against a surface of the photoreceptor. The system includes a photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor and a surface protecting layer that is provided on a surface of the photosensitive layer. The surface protecting layer includes a polymerizable monomer having at least two polymerizable groups in a molecule and a polymer of a hole transporting compound having a polymerizable group represented by General formula (1). The tip ridge of the cleaning blade has an edge angle that is obtuse and less than 120° and is pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor at an effective contact angle that is in a range of 8 to 20°.

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An electrophotographic photosensitive member, in which occurrences of image defects are suppressed, and a method for manufacturing the electrophotographic photosensitive member are provided. In addition, a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus, which include the electrophotographic photosensitive member, are provided. The surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member contains a cured material, and the cured material is a copolymer of a hole transport compound having a chain-polymerizable functional group and a vinyl ester compound containing a long-chain alkyl group.

An image forming apparatus (1) includes a photosensitive drum (50), a cleaning blade (81), and a drive mechanism (90). The cleaning blade (81) is in pressed contact with a circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum (50). The drive mechanism (90) causes one of the photosensitive drum (50) and the cleaning blade (81) to reciprocate in a rotational axis direction (D) of the photosensitive drum (50). The drive mechanism (90) for example causes the photosensitive drum (50) to reciprocate in the rotational axis direction (D). The photosensitive drum (50) includes a photosensitive layer (85). An outermost layer of the photosensitive layer (85) contains a plurality of particles.