A high quality ink jet recording medium is formed of a dimensionally stable
absorbent paper base sheet and a coating that is primarily a reaction
product of polyvinyl alcohol and boric acid. The reaction product has
molecule bonds that are principally polyvinyl alcohol-boric acid-polyvinyl
alcohol bonds which, when applied to the substrate, form a
three-dimensional sieve or screen-like coating facilitating penetration to
the absorbent base-sheet of ink carrier vehicle and holding out on the
sieve or screen the ink pigments and colorants. The coating facilitates
manufacture of a high quality recording medium of exceptionally low cost,
ideally suited for high-speed multicolor ink jet printing in continuous
web form. Methods of making the coating and the medium are disclosed.
