Effect of ambient air relative humidity on the triboelectric properties of Polypropylene and Polyvinyl Chloride slabs

Omar Tilmatine (1) , Thami Zeghloul (1) , Karim Medles (2) , Lucian Dascalescu (2) , Aurelian Fatu (1)

1 TriboLub - Mécanique des interfaces lubrifiées [Institut Pprime]
2 EFD - Électro-Fluido-Dynamique [Institut Pprime]

The humidity of ambient air has always been known to be a major factor in the triboelectric charging of polymers. A study on the influence of this factor was conducted in a climatic test chamber on square-cut Polypropylene (PP) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plates of dimensions (110 mm × 110 mm x 4.5 mm) rubbed with Aluminum (Al) samples of dimensions (100 mm × 15 mm x 5 mm). The samples were left at least 12 h in the climatic test chamber at fixed temperature (25 °C) and three different values of air relative humidity (20%, 40% and 80%), then rubbed together in a triboelectric charging test bench. The tribocharged PP and PVC samples were then placed under an electrostatic probe to measure the electric potential generated on the surface of the sample. The results of the experiments show that the sign of the tribocharge reverses when the two polymers are exposed to low or high ambient humidity.

Mots clés: Surface electric potential ; Controlled humidity and temperature ; Tribocharging ; Polymer materials

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Omar Tilmatine, Thami Zeghloul, Karim Medles, Lucian Dascalescu, Aurelian Fatu. Effect of ambient air relative humidity on the triboelectric properties of Polypropylene and Polyvinyl Chloride slabs. Journal of Electrostatics, 2022, 115, pp.103651. ⟨10.1016/j.elstat.2021.103651⟩. ⟨hal-03681135⟩