Characterization of Triboelectric Charge Generation between PTFE and Nylon after Repeated Contacts

• Published in: Energy harvesting and systems Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 1 - 12
• Main Authors: Kleyman, Gleb, Kang, Tong, Twiefel, Jens, Voit, Walter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin De Gruyter 26.03.2018; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: Charge density; Elastic properties; electrostatic charging; Humidity; Nylon 66; Parameters; Polytetrafluoroethylene; Relative humidity; Surface charge; Temperature dependence; TENG; triboelectric
• DOI: 10.1515/ehs-2018-0001
• ISSN: 2329-8774

The charge generation between PTFE and Nylon 6,6 has been analyzed under different settings of temperature, humidity and mechanical load. It is found that the charging characteristics of the sample materials in terms of the parameters investigated in this study (e.g. temperature, relative humidity and applied force) are linear. Furthermore, the experimental results show that the proportionality factor between applied load and maximum achievable surface charge is affected by the sample temperature. As we show this fact is most likely attributed to the strongly temperature-dependent elastic properties of polymeric materials. The discoveries lead us to a mathematical formulation for the surface charge density which allows the investigation of maximum charge density for every single operating point within the parameter variation limits. The model parameter for two different structured material pairs are obtained from measurements and applied to the mathematical formulation. The theoretical data demonstrates that the proportionality factor between sample temperature and surface charge is strongly affected by relative humidity.