An image forming apparatus includes an electrophotographic photoreceptor having an overcoat layer and a cleaning unit that includes a cleaning blade, a tip of which contacts with the electrophotographic photoreceptor, wherein the toner contains a toner particle which contains a binder resin containing a crystalline polyester resin, a colorant and a release agent, and an external additive, and the toner satisfies the following Expression: 2tan .sub.P12.5, wherein tan .sub.P1 represents a maximum value of a mechanical loss tangent existing in a range where a complex elastic modulus is from 110.sup.6 Pa to 110.sup.8 Pa, which is measured at an angular frequency of 6.28 rad/sec and a strain amount of 0.3%.

The present invention provides an electrophotographic photoconductor having a photosensitive layer and a protective layer in sequence on a conductive support, the protective layer containing an electron transporting compound having a left-right asymmetric structure in which an electron transporting skeleton is centered, with a side chain having a polymerizable functional group on one side, and with a side chain having no polymerizable functional group on the other side, the electrophotographic photoconductor having good electrical properties, especially residual potential properties, even when a compound having electron transportability is contained in the protective layer.

Provided is a coating agent having a polymerizable compound containing a hydroxyl group in the molecule, conductive inorganic particles whose surface is treated with a dispersing agent having a nitrogen atom in the molecule, and a solvent, in which when the interatomic distance between an oxygen atom of the hydroxyl group and the atom farthest away from the oxygen atom in the molecule of the polymerizable compound is represented by D1 and the interatomic distance between the nitrogen atom and the atom farthest away from the nitrogen atom in the molecule of the dispersing agent is represented by D2, D1 and D2 satisfy the relationship represented by the following formula (1).
[(|D1D2|)/D2]0.30Formula (1)

An electrophotographic photoconductor includes a conductive support; and a photoconductive layer that contains at least a charge generation material, a hole transport material, an electron transport material and a binder resin, and that is provided on the conductive support, wherein the photoconductive layer has an outermost layer that contains a charge generation material, a hole transport material, an electron transport material, a binder resin and a highly branched polymer that is obtained by polymerizing, in the presence of a polymerization initiator, a monomer having, in a molecule, two or more radically polymerizable double bonds and a monomer having, in a molecule, a long-chain alkyl group or an alicyclic group and at least one radically polymerizable double bond. The electrophotographic photoconductor exhibits superior operational stability and stably high image quality, without problems with image memory, a contact member, or image defects due to cracks caused by contamination by oils/fats or sebum.

An electrophotographic photoconductor includes a conductive support; a charge generation layer provided on the conductive support; and a charge transport layer containing a charge transport material, a binder resin, and a highly branched polymer having a long-chain alkyl group or an alicyclic group, provided on the charge generation layer as an outermost layer. The electrophotographic photoconductor has excellent contamination resistance against sebum or the like, stable electrical characteristics even upon repeated use, as well as superior transfer resistance and gas resistance. A method for producing the electrophotographic photoconductor is disclosed, as well as an electrophotographic apparatus including the electrophotographic photoconductor.

An electrophotographic photoreceptor includes a conductive substrate, a charge generation layer provided on the conductive substrate, a charge transport layer provided on the charge generation layer, and a surface protective layer provided on the charge transport layer, in which the charge transport layer has a film thickness of 8 m or greater and 25 m or less, and the surface protective layer is a cured film of a composition, having a film thickness of 10 m or less and containing a resin (X) that has at least one of a unit represented by Formula (X1) or a unit represented by Formula (X2) and a reactive group-containing charge transport material that contains a reactive group and a charge-transporting skeleton in an identical molecule,

##STR00001## in Formula (X1), R.sup.101, R.sup.102, and R.sup.103 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, L.sup.101 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, an aromatic ring that may have a substituent, or a combination thereof, L.sup.102 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, or a combination thereof, R.sup.104 and R.sup.105 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, n represents an integer of 0 or greater and 300 or less, R.sup.106, R.sup.107, and R.sup.108 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms or O[Si(R.sup.109)(R.sup.110)O].sub.mSi(R.sup.111)(R.sup.112)(R.sup.113) R.sup.109, R.sup.110, R.sup.111, R.sup.112, and R.sup.113 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, and m represents an integer of 0 or greater and 20 or less, in Formula (X2), R.sup.201, R.sup.202, and R.sup.203 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, L.sup.201 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, an aromatic ring that may have a substituent, or a combination thereof, L.sup.202 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, or a combination thereof, and R.sup.204 is an alkyl group having 6 or more and 30 or less carbon atoms.