1. Triboelectric Effect Charger Senior Project Tech Topic Matt Merritt

2. Overview Type of contact electrification Often associated with rubbing (contact and separation) First recorded by Greek Philosopher Thales sometime around 600 B.C.

3. How It Works Caused by adhesion Charges exchanged from one material to another to balance electrochemical potential During separation, the materials become positively or negatively charged Contact with an oppositely charged object may cause electric discharge

4. Triboelectric Series List of materials used to create triboelectric effect Runs from top to bottom, positive to negative charge Some examples: –Human hair (positive charge) in contact with a rubber balloon (negative charge) –Human skin in contact with plastic wrap

5. Alternative Charging Methods Corona charging –Ionizes materials using a charged wire and grounded base –Used in charged toner-based printers and powder coating –Requires very high voltages Unipolar High-Throughput –Ionizes materials using high-electron source –Often requires radioactive materials and meta state materials

6. References Triboelectric Effects: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~scdiroff/lds/Electricit yMagnetism/TriboelectricEffects/TriboelectricEff ects.html Triboelectric effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effect "Tribo or Corona? Here's How to Decide“: http://sections.asme.org/cincinnati/Tribo.htm