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, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, 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, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, 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.

A process cartridge which allows any spot and stripe as image defects to be suppressed is provided. A process cartridge, in which an electroconductive layer of a charging member has a matrix including a first rubber, and domains dispersed in the matrix, the domains include a second rubber and an electron electroconductive agent, at least some of the domains are exposed on a surface of the charging member, when a volume resistivity of the matrix is 10.sup.5 times or more a volume resistivity of the domains, a protective layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a metal oxide particle, and when a number average primary particle size of the metal oxide particle is defined as Sm and an average value of equivalent circle diameters of the domains is defined as Sd, the Sd/Sm satisfies the following expression (1): 0.5<Sd/Sm<100 . . . expression (1).

An electrophotographic photosensitive member that is excellent in image smearing resistance and low torque while maintaining its electrophotographic characteristic. The electrophotographic photosensitive member is an electrophotographic photosensitive member comprising, in this order: a support; a photosensitive layer; and a protection layer as a surface layer, wherein the protection layer has a surface having a developed area ratio Sdr of 1.0% to 40.0%, and wherein an A value represented by the following formula (1) is 0.10 to 0.27: A=S1/S2 . . . formula (1), where, in the formula (1), S1 represents a peak area based on C═C stretching vibration of an aromatic ring by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and S2 represents a peak area based on C═O stretching vibration of an ester group by the same method.

Provided is an image forming method using a toner for developing an electrostatic charge image and an electrophotographic photoreceptor, and containing at least a charging step, an exposing step, a developing step and a transferring step, wherein the electrophotographic photoreceptor has a photosensitive layer, and the photosensitive layer contains a triphenylamine derivative having a specific structure as a charge transport material, and the toner for developing an electrostatic charge image contains at least titanic acid compound particles as an external additive.

In an example, a photosensitive imaging surface is provided by an extended photodiode structure.

The object of the present invention is to provide a positive charging electrophotographic photoreceptor having high sensitivity, low residual potential, and excellent chargeability, and relates to a positive charging electrophotographic photoreceptor including a conductive support, a photosensitive layer, and a protective layer in this order, the photosensitive layer containing a charge generation substance, a positive hole transport substance, and an electron transport substance in the same layer, in which the positive hole transport substance includes at least one of the compounds represented by any one of the following formulas (1) to (5), and a binder resin of the protective layer is an alcohol-soluble thermoplastic resin, providing that the symbols in the formula are defined in the specification. ##STR00001##

In an example, a photosensitive imaging surface is provided by an extended photodiode structure.

There is provided an electrophotographic photoreceptor obtained by sequentially laminating at least a photosensitive layer and an outermost layer on a conductive support, wherein the outermost layer contains a polymerized and cured product of a composition containing a polymerizable monomer and a filler, and the filler includes a conductive first filler surface-treated with a surface treatment agent having a silicone chain in a side chain, and a second filler having a relative dielectric constant which is lower than that of the first filler and 5 or less.

An electrophotographic photosensitive member capable of maintaining a charging ability during repeated use is provided. An electrophotographic photosensitive member having a support, a conductive layer, a photosensitive layer and a protective layer in this order, wherein the protective layer contains a binding resin and a metal oxide particle, the metal oxide particle has a core and a coating layer, the core and the coating layer each contain titanium oxide, and the coating layer further includes niobium.