Charge Mosaics: The mystery of static electricity finally has answers

Scientists have been trying to predict models and unravel this mystery for decades.

The earliest spark of electricity known to man was from contact electrification (CE)— when nearby surfaces become electrically charged. 

Even today, it forms an important part of the technologies that operate laser printers, produce LCDs, and separate plastics for recycling. CE can also cause industrial hazards such as damage to electronic systems, explosions in coal mines or fires in chemical plants due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) which is accompanied by CE.

Previously, it was assumed that two materials in contact with each other or sliding against each other produce charges that are opposite and uniform.

However, after the 1940s, it was found that each surface carries a heterogeneous distribution of both positive and negative charges after contact, called a charge mosaic. Application of the theory of charge mosaics can be seen using many materials such as sheets of paper, balloons, and steel balls rubbed on Teflon surfaces.

Scientists have been trying to predict models and find the source of this heterogeneity for decades. It was previously assumed that the heterogeneity must be due to some innate physical property of the contact materials themselves.

Now, a study published in Nature Physics may have found the answer to this mystery.

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