Granular charging agent and charging method and image forming method using the same.

摘要

A granular charging agent capable of injecting the electric charge into a material to charge the surface of the material when coming in contact with the material with the application of a voltage to the charging agent, comprising magnetic particles which comprise electroconductive magnetic particles and high-resistivity magnetic particles of which resistivity is higher than that of the electroconductive magnetic particles. A granular charging agent may comprise magnetic particles, each magnetic particle comprising an electroconductive surface portion capable of forming a flow path of electric current and a surface portion with a resistivity higher than that of the electroconductive surface portion. In addition, a method of charging a material such as a photoconductor using the above-mentioned granular charging agent is disclosed.