Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 341, Issue 6152, Pages 1368-1371Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1241326
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Funding
- Non-Equilibrium Energy Research Center (NERC), an Energy Frontier Research Center
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences [DE-SC0000989]
- Human Frontier Science Program
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Even minute quantities of electric charge accumulating on polymer surfaces can cause shocks, explosions, and multibillion-dollar losses to electronic circuitry. This paper demonstrates that to remove static electricity, it is not at all necessary to target the charges themselves. Instead, the way to discharge a polymer is to remove radicals from its surface. These radicals colocalize with and stabilize the charges; when they are scavenged, the surfaces discharge rapidly. This radical-charge interplay allows for controlling static electricity by doping common polymers with small amounts of radical-scavenging molecules, including the familiar vitamin E. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by rendering common polymers dust-mitigating and also by using them as coatings that prevent the failure of electronic circuitry.
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