Provided is a toner blend composition comprising a first pigmented toner and a second toner that is devoid of any pigment additive, i.e., a ‘non-pigmented or clear toner’. The non-pigmented or clear toner is about 1% to about 15% by weight of the toner blend composition. The resulting inventive toner blend composition surprisingly exhibits similar print density on a page compared to a fully pigmented toner. Moreover, this toner blend composition exhibits improvement in toner usage per page, thus lowering toner cost compared to a fully pigmented toner. The non-pigmented or clear toner may be used in combination with either a monochrome or conventional toner using a carbon black pigment, or a chemically processed toners (‘CPT”) toners using a black pigment, magenta pigment, yellow pigment or a cyan pigment.

Provided is a toner blend composition comprising a first pigmented toner and a second toner that is devoid of any pigment additive, i.e., a ‘non-pigmented or clear toner’. The non-pigmented or clear toner is about 1% to about 15% by weight of the toner blend composition. The resulting inventive toner blend composition surprisingly exhibits similar print density on a page compared to a fully pigmented toner. Moreover, this toner blend composition exhibits improvement in toner usage per page, thus lowering toner cost compared to a fully pigmented toner. The non-pigmented or clear toner may be used in combination with either a monochrome or conventional toner using a carbon black pigment, or a chemically processed toners (‘CPT′’) toners using a black pigment, magenta pigment, yellow pigment or a cyan pigment.

The toner for developing electrostatic images is less likely to cause toner ejection and is excellent in printing durability. The toner includes colored resin particles and external additives. The external additives includes an external additive A and an external additive B; wherein the external additive A is silica particles being surface-hydrophobized with a specific hydrophobizing agent and having a specific number average particle diameter; and wherein the external additive B is silicone resin particles having a ratio (BS/TS) of a BET specific surface area (BS) to a theoretical specific surface area (TS) in a range of from 3.0 to 30.0, and having a specific number average particle diameter.

A toner composition having improved toner usage efficiency, wherein toner particles having an average size range of 1-25 μm may be mixed with an extra particulate additive package including a first small silica surface treated with both a silane and an aminosilane having a primary particle size of about 5 nm-20 nm, a second fumed silica having a primary particle size of 30 nm-60 nm, a third silica having a primary particle size of about 70 nm-120 nm, an electro-conductive titania having a primary particle size of 30 nm-60 nm and an acicular titania having a size of about 1.6 μm to 1.7 μm in length and about 130 nm in diameter. An alternative embodiment of the extra particulate additive package does not include a third silica having a primary particle size of about 70 nm-120 nm.

Provided is a toner including toner particles. Each of the toner particles includes a toner base particle including a binder resin and a release agent. The toner particles have an average circularity of 0.974 or greater and 0.985 or less. An arithmetic mean height Sa of surfaces of the toner particles is 45 nm or greater. The toner particles have a BET specific surface area of 1.3 m.sup.2/g or greater and 2.5 m.sup.2/g or less.

[Object] An object of the invention is to provide a toner that can both achieve a higher level of low temperature fixability and suppression of the toner scattering.

[Means of Achieving the Object]

The disclosure is to provide a toner, including base-particles, and an external-additive, wherein a glass-transition temperature obtained from a DSC-curve at a second-warming of a THF-insoluble component is −50° C. or higher and 10° C. or lower, wherein an average circularity of the toner is 0.975 or more and 0.985 or lower, wherein the toner satisfies the following formula:

1.5≤Bt−0.025−Ct≤3.0, wherein the Bt [m.sup.2/g] is a BET-specific-surface area of the toner-particles, and the Ct [%] is a coverage by the external-additive, and, at least a portion of a surface of the external-additive is coated with either an oxide of a metallic element, a hydroxide of the metallic element, or both.

The electrophotographic apparatus and process cartridge comprising an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a cleaning blade, and developing unit containing a toner, wherein the cleaning blade comprising a support member and an elastic member whose portion is abutting a surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member; the elastic member has an elastic modulus of 15 to 470 MPa with coefficient of variation for the elastic modulus being not more than 7.0%, and the absolute value of a difference between Martens hardness values is not more than 0.30 N/mm.sup.2 as measured under prescribed conditions; the toner contains a toner particle and an external additive whose a number-average primary particle diameter is from 5 to 25 nm, when X1 is a coverage ratio of the toner particle by the external additive and X2 is a theoretical coverage ratio, X1 is 50 to 85 area %, and X1/X2≥−0.0042×X1+0.60 is satisfied.

According to one embodiment, a toner contains a toner mother particle and an external additive. The toner mother particle contains a crystalline polyester resin and a specific ester wax. The external additive contains silica A having a D.sub.50 of 10 nm to 14 nm and monodispersed silica B having a D.sub.50 of 90 nm to 150 nm. The following conditions are satisfied. Content of silica A: 0.1 parts by mass to 0.8 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the toner mother particle. Content of silica B: 0.3 parts by mass to 1.2 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the toner mother particle. Ratio (content of silica B/content of silica A): 1.0 to 5.0. Residual ratio X of silica A: 70% or more. Residual ratio Y of silica B: 30% or more. Ratio (residual ratio X/residual ratio Y): 1.0 to 3.0.

An electrostatic charge image developing toner has toner particles and silica particles that are added to an exterior of the toner particles, contain a nitrogen element-containing compound, have a ratio C/D of 0.10 or more and 0.75 or less where C represents an integral value of signals observed in a range of chemical shift of −50 ppm or more and −75 ppm or less in a .sup.29Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum obtained by a cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) method and D represents an integral value of signals observed in a range of chemical shift of −90 ppm or more and −120 ppm or less in the same spectrum, have an extraction amount X of the nitrogen element-containing compound by a mixed solution of ammonia/methanol of 0.1% by mass or more, and satisfy Expression: Y/X<0.3 where X represents an extraction amount of the nitrogen element-containing compound by a mixed solution of ammonia/methanol and Y represents an extraction amount of the nitrogen element-containing compound by water.

An electrostatic charge image developing toner has toner particles and silica particles that are added to an exterior of the toner particles and contain a nitrogen element-containing compound, in which in a case where A represents a pore volume of pores of the silica particles having a diameter of 1 nm or more and 50 nm or less determined from a pore size distribution curve obtained by a nitrogen adsorption method before baking at 350° C., and B represents a pore volume of pores of the silica particles having a diameter of 1 nm or more and 50 nm or less determined from a pore size distribution curve obtained by a nitrogen adsorption method after baking at 350° C., B/A is 1.2 or more and 5 or less, and B is 0.2 cm.sup.3/g or more and 3 cm.sup.3/g or less.