The relationship between contact charging and the concentration of donor impurities in polymers

Abstract

The contact electrification of polyethylene doped with octadecanol has been studied. The results show that the -OH group in a polyethylene matrix acts as an electron donor. For octadecanol concentrations up to about 25 wt.%, the charge density increases approximately linearly with the density of donors. However, it appears that only a small fraction of the -OH groups close to the surface are involved in contact electrification.