Polymer tribo-electric charging:: dependence on thermodynamic surface properties and relative humidity

Tribo-electric charging of polymers can be considered as an interfacial phenomenon of interacting polymer surfaces. The electron pair acceptor/donor properties of the polymer surfaces determine the polymer's charging. This can be shown by an excellent linear correlation between the electron pair acceptor/donor parameters alpha and beta and the measured amount of surface charges. Furthermore, the rate of charging corresponds also with the surface polarity parameters. Water adsorption influences the charging mechanism. Several polymers show an increased uptake of water which forms adsorption or swollen layers with increasing the atmospheric humidity. In these cases, the fundamental electron pair interaction mechanism is influenced by an additional ion conductivity. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.