Effect of Polymer Structure on its Triboelectric Properties

An experimental procedure is reported for the determination of the triboelectric charging of polymer films, which has sufficient precision to allow systematic observations of the variations of charge values which result from systematic changes of polymer structure (by copolymerization and with additives). A simple model is proposed fo brief contact triboelectric charging, which involves interplay of ``work function'' and conductivity as thermodynamic and kinetic factors, respectively. This model is based on earlier work reported in the literature, in which the magnitude of charging is related to the work function difference and the rate of charging to polymer conductivity. Two series of polymers of systematically varying conductivities have been synthesized and their triboelectric charging values are discussed in terms of the above model.