Control of triboelectric charges on common polymers by photoexcitation of organic dyes.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30655528.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-08037-5 and PMC identifier 6336862.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Triboelectric charging of insulators, also known as contact charging in which electrical charges develop on surfaces upon contact, is a significant problem that is especially critical for various industries such as polymers, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and space. Several methods of tribocharge mitigation exist in practice; however, none can reach the practicality of using light in the process. Here we show a light-controlled manipulation of triboelectric charges on common polymers, in which the tribocharges are mitigated upon illumination with appropriate wavelengths of light in presence of a mediator organic dye. Our method provides spatial and temporal control of mitigation of static charges on common polymer surfaces by a mechanism that involves photoexcitation of organic dyes, which also allows additional control using wavelength. This control over charge mitigation provides a way to manipulate macroscopic objects by tribocharging followed by light-controlled discharging.