Triboelectric charging of powders: A review

Particles are often electrostatically charged by frictional contact during powder-handling operations. This phenomenon is called ‘triboelectric charging’ or ‘contact electrification’. The charged particles cause problems such as particle deposition and adhesion. In addition, if particles are excessively charged, an electrostatic discharge may occur, which can pose a risk of fire and explosion hazards; thus, to mitigate the adverse effects, it is important to elucidate the underlying triboelectric charging mechanisms. The electrostatics is, on the other hand, very useful in a number of applications that have been developed using the principles. In this review, the basic concepts and theories of charge transfer between solid surfaces are summarized, and chemical factors depending on materials and environmental effects are described. To theoretically analyze the process of particle charging, relevant models are discussed. Using the models, particle charging by repeated impacts on a wall is formulated. To experimentally evaluate particle charging, measurement and characterization methods are outlined. Furthermore, important applications and computer simulations are described.     

Triboelectric charging of fungal spores during resuspension and rebound

The triboelectric charging of fungal spores was experimentally characterized during rebound and resuspension. A fungal spore source strength tester (FSSST) was used as a primary aerosol generator for spores of three fungal species and two powders (silicon carbide and silver). The critical velocity of rebound was determined using a variable nozzle area impactor (VNAI), and the charging state of particles after resuspension and rebound was measured using the FSSST, different impactor setups, electrometers, and optical particle counters. In the impactor setups and the FSSST, five different surface materials relevant for indoor environments were used (steel, glass, polystyrene, paper, and polytetrafluoroethylene). The critical velocity of rebound was determined to be 0.57 m/s for fungal spores, which is relatively low compared to silicon carbide and previous results for micron-sized aerosol particles. Based on the rebound impactor measurements, we were able to define the crucial parameters of charge transfer for different particle–surface material pairs. A contact charge parameter, which describes the triboelectric charging during rebound, was found to have a negative correlation with the charging state of the particles after the resuspension from an impactor. This connects the triboelectric charging during rebound and resuspension to each other. Based on the contact charge parameter values, quantified triboelectric series could be formed. The results of this work show that fungal spores can be charged both positively and negatively during rebound and resuspension depending on the fungal species and surface material.

Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Triboelectrification of particulate flows on surfaces: Part II — Mechanisms and models

Triboelectric charge accumulation both poses problems and offers opportunities for dry particulate processing. It generates hazards in many industrial systems, but is exploited in several important applications, including electrophotographic toner charging and triboelectric separation. However, the charging of continuous particulate flows on solid surfaces is poorly understood, and design of devices to optimise triboelectric behaviour is often qualitative or based on trial and error. This study attempts to identify the main charging mechanisms for a continuous particulate flow on a flat surface. The proposed charging models incorporate contact time, velocity and mode of contact. A model incorporating contact area effects arising from sliding and rolling contact is consistent with experimental data, as long as a charge limit is imposed on bouncing particles. A mechanism for this charge limit, involving separation discharge, is proposed. The effect of delocalised image charge on the system is estimated and found to be negligible. Some general design principles are proposed for triboelectric optimisation of particle processing devices.     

Triboelectric Charging and Separation of Fine Powder Mixtures

For increasingly finer powders, the material-specific separation at high loadings is a challenging task, for instance in recycling processes. Here, a combination of triboelectric charging and electrostatic separation was investigated for powder mixtures of talcum and calcite. The dependencies of the triboelectric charge on the mass loading, the gas velocity, and the mixture ratio were investigated. While higher charge levels were achieved with increasing gas velocity, the mass loading had an opposite effect on the net charge. Although bipolar charge distributions were observed within pure materials and mixtures, electrical neutralization did not occur in the mixtures. Therefore, already in a non-optimized setup, a decent degree of material enrichment (of up to 53 %) was found on the separating electrodes.     

提高粉末涂料磨擦带电性

比较了粉末涂装中摩擦和电晕两种方法的优势，简要介绍了摩擦带电的机理，并从摩擦带电剂、粉末表面改性和粉末粒径控制等方面探讨了提高粉末涂料摩擦带电性的方法。     

Tribocharging of Three-Component Powder Mixtures

Adhesion of charged toner particles used in electrophotography is dominated by electrostatic forces. In this paper we discuss a model which describes the process by which toner particles acquire their electrostatic charge, tribocharging.

In previous papers, we have presented a model of tribocharging of two-component mixtures of powders based on the assumptions that:

1. The surface of each powder is populated with electron accepting and donating sites;
2. The density of states of the donating and accepting sites can be represented by narrow bands, all of which have the same energy; and
3. Charge is exchanged between donor and acceptor sites until thermodynamic equilibrium is established.

In this paper, we show how to extend this model to multi-component mixtures. The extended model can be used to calculate the charging behavior of three-component mixtures of electrophotographic toners and carriers based on measurements with two component mixtures. Experimentally-measured charging behavior agrees with the model predictions.

These results confirm it is possible to assign charging site densities to individual materials empirically. The site densities can then be used to predict charging behavior of the materials in mixtures which have not been studied experimentally. The success of the model also implies that toner particles migrate freely from carrier particle to carrier particle and that triboelectric interactions take place between toner particles of different compositions in mixtures.     

Enhancement of oxygen mass transfer rate in the presence of nanosized particles

Absorption of gases into a liquid is essentially important for two- or three-phase reactions, because the diffusion of a sparingly soluble gas, like oxygen, across a gas-liquid interface generally limits the reaction rates. Using a third, dispersed phase, the mass transfer rate could be significantly increased. The question arises how the absorption rate can be described in the presence of very fine, nanometer size particles or droplets. Its mathematical model should take into account the specific properties of the nanoparticles, e.g. the Brownian motion of particles, its effect on the diffusion of the bulk phase molecules, the mass transfer rate into the nanoparticles, its dependency on the particle size, etc. The mass transfer rate of oxygen, in the presence of nanometer size, organic droplets, has been investigated both experimentally, using organic submicron n-hexadecane droplets, and theoretically. The effect of the Brownian motion of the nanoparticles as well as its effect on the diffusivity in the nanofluid has been discussed. Accordingly, the enhanced diffusion coefficient, due to the convective motion of the continuous liquid phase induced by the moving particles, has been predicted and its effect on the mass transfer enhancement has been calculated using both homogeneous and heterogeneous mathematical models. The predicted data were compared to the measured ones.     

Explanation of charged nanoparticle production from hot surfaces

The production of charged nanoparticles from hot surfaces like glowing wires was used earlier in connection with mobility classification, but the phenomenon was not understood. In the present paper, negative particle charge is explained by thermoemission of electrons and positive particle charge by surface ionization of impurity atoms with low ionization energy. Such impurities are inevitably present even in high-purity metals. A model based on Saha–Langmuir and Richardson equations for particle charging and Hertz–Knutsen and Clausius–Clapeyron equations for evaporation rate can be fitted to the experimental charge emission in a satisfactory manner. This applies to the charge attached to Ag and Pd nanoparticles forming from a glowing wire (this work) and to data on charge emission from hot surfaces in vacuum reported by Jeon et al. The charging probability of particles is proportional to their volume indicating that the charge was incorporated during the formation process.     

废旧塑料摩擦荷电机理及摩擦电选技术研究进展

塑料由于材质轻、化学性质稳定、成本低、耐磨性及耐腐蚀性好等优点被广泛应用于工程建设、食品安全、交通运输以及医疗等领域,如果处理不当会对环境造成严重的污染,废塑料污染防治已成为全球关注的环境问题。目前处理废旧塑料的常用方法有风选法、浮选法、静电分离法和光选法等,摩擦电选作为一种新型干式分选方法越来越受到研究者们的重视,其具有工艺简单、污染小、投资少、成本低等优点。本工作针对废旧塑料的分选回收利用,详细介绍了摩擦电选的荷电机理、影响因素、荷电装置和分选设备的研究现状,指出了目前通过摩擦电选回收废旧塑料的技术问题,并对摩擦电选技术未来的发展趋势和应用进行了展望。     

Collision-Based Ionization: Bridging the Gap between Chemical Ionization and Aerosol Particle Diffusion Charging

In diffusion charging theory, it is assumed that each ion–particle collision leads to the transfer of charge from ion to particle, and that charge transfer will not occur upon collision between a vapor molecule and a charged particle. However, in chemical ionization, charge transfer can occur in two directions—from charge-donating ion to vapor molecule and back from charged vapor molecule to the original charge-donating species. Both aerosol diffusion charging and chemical ionization are collision-based charge transfer processes, and for particles only slightly larger than vapor molecules (aerosol clusters), the line between diffusion charging and chemical ionization becomes blurred. We examined the charge transfer from aerosol clusters (positively charged amino acid clusters) in the ～1.0 nm size range to neutral vapor molecules (trimethylamine) at atmospheric pressure by using a combined experimental and theoretical approach. It was found that for singly charged amino acid cluster ions composed of 1, 2, and 3 amino acid molecules, the rate of charge transfer to trimethylamine vapor molecules was clearly observable, particularly for clusters composed of 1 and 2 molecules. The charge transfer rate for singly charged clusters with 4 or more amino acid molecules was consistently close to 0, indicating that the rate of charge transfer from clusters to vapor molecules is size dependent. The charge transfer rates also varied with cluster's chemical composition. Overall, this study demonstrates that small aerosol clusters (～0.5 nm) can lose charge through collisions with vapor molecules, which is typically not considered in diffusion charging theories.     

Charging of aerosol particles by ionizing radiation in the presence of an electric field

An ionizing particle (alpha particle in the experiment) produces pairs of positive and negative ions along its trajectory until its kinetic energy is exhausted. The ion production field can be computed if the system geometry, disintegration rate and energy are known.Without an electric field, positive and negative ions are distributed isotropically around the trajectories of the ionizing particles. In this case aerosol particles are neutralized.When, however, a strong electric field is applied to the ion production field, it dominates ionic motion and creates regions where concentration ratios between positive and negative ions exist. In such a field, particles obtain charges depending on their size and dielectric constant, concentrations of positive and negative ions and electric field strength.Differential equations for impaction charging and diffusion charging were derived for this bipolar case. Solutions are for the most general cases when charging time is finite, and the initial charge is not zero.A simple electrostatic precipitator (ESP) was developed to test this equation for impaction charging. The test dust was lycopodium spores (d = 28 μm). The agreement with theory and experimental results was good. Differences at higher field strengths appear to be due to secondary ionization.     

Triboelectric charging of monodisperse particles in fluidized beds

To investigate the interplay between particle charging and hydrodynamics in fluidized beds, models for triboelectric charging and electrostatic forces were built into a computational fluid dynamics‐discrete element method model. Charge transfer was governed by the difference in effective work function between contacting materials as well as the electric field at the point of contact. Monodisperse particles were fluidized with an effective work function difference between the particles and the conducting walls. For smaller work function differences, hydrodynamics were not changed significantly as compared with an uncharged case. In these simulations, the average charge saturated at a value much lower than the value anticipated based on the work function difference, and a unimodal distribution of charges was observed. For larger work function differences, particles stuck to walls and bed height oscillations due to slugging were less pronounced. For these cases, a bimodal distribution of charges emerged due to effects from strong electric fields. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1872–1891, 2017     

Mass‐transfer enhancement in single drop extraction in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles and magnetic field

Magnetite nanoparticles with an average particle size of 28.8 nm were synthesized, coated with oleic acid, and characterized using various techniques such as DLS, FT‐IR, SEM, XRD, VSM, and UV‐Vis analysis. A nanofluid consisting of synthesized nanoparticles and 5 wt % acetic acid in toluene as the dispersed phase was prepared and used in the chemical test system, Toluene‐Acetic Acid‐Water, for the single drop extraction in the presence and absence of an external oscillating magnetic field. Influences of various operating and design parameters such as nanoparticle concentration, drop diameter, and the applied current and frequency on the overall mass‐transfer coefficients for the mass‐transfer direction from d→c were investigated carefully. The obtained results were used to propose a general correlation for the mass‐transfer enhancement. It was found that the maximum mass‐transfer enhancement compared with that obtained in the absence of nanoparticles and the oscillating magnetic field is about 259%. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 4466–4479, 2016     

Charge Transfer to Metal Nanoparticles Bouncing from Conductive Surfaces

The charging behavior of metal nanoparticles bouncing from conductive surfaces was investigated in a single-stage-low-pressure-impactor. Ag and Pt particles of a fixed particle size between 20 nm and 100 nm were impacted on targets of bulk Au and Pt, respectively, and the resulting contact charge was measured as a function of impact velocity. The influence of target hardness was revealed by the comparison to measurements with soft nanostructured layers obtained by direct current sputtering of Au and Pt on mica discs. From the dataset, regions of elastic, elastoplastic, and fully plastic particle deformation were identified, and the size-dependent effective yield stress for the respective particle materials was calculated. The influence of electron back-tunneling in the separation phase of the collision on the effective contact charge is discussed.

Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Experimental study of particle trajectory in electrostatics powder coating process

Experimental studies of particle trajectory were conducted in an isolated Plexiglass coating booth. Polyester particles were injected with a Norsdon® electrostatics spray gun with a fixed distance from the gun to a grounded plate. Using a Dantec® Particle Dynamic Analyzer, the particle velocity and size distribution were measured simultaneously. The experimental results showed that the effect of electrostatics charging on the particle trajectory is strong in the close vicinity of the target, but can be neglected at locations away from the target. The influence on particle size and velocity profile due to the electric field between the charged particles and grounded target was weakened as more particles deposited on the target. When no charge is introduced on the coating powder, particle segregation is observed for particles larger than 100 μm. Particle gravitational settlement is noticed even near the gun tip. However, particle charging largely eliminates the segregation at a gun-to-target distance of 25 cm and helps break agglomerates formed in the spray system. The gun-to-target velocities of larger particles exhibited noticeable deviation from those of the flow field as the grounded target was approached. The study revealed that the onset of electrostatic coating is an important period that can affect the transfer efficiency and film thickness.     

Bench-scale tests to determine mechanisms of charge generation due to particle-particle and particle-wall contact in binary systems of fine and coarse particles

Bench-scale methods were utilized to determine changes in electrostatic charges and their mechanisms for various coarse and fine particles as they came into contact with each other and/or their containing vessel walls. Techniques included shaking tests and particle-copper plate contacting experiments. Electrostatic behaviour of coarse particles (glass beads and polyethylene) and fine particles (Larostat 519, glass beads and silver-coated glass beads) were investigated. Shaking tests resulted in charge separation in which the fine particles acquired significant positive charges, opposite to those carried by the large particles. In copper-plate contacting tests, charge transfer occurred between the fines and the copper plate with fines carrying away almost all of the initial charges on the plate followed by further charge separation. Charge separation was found to be the dominant charging mechanism between the coarse particle and copper plate, with the particles becoming negatively charged.     

The effect of dielectric constant of materials on unipolar diffusion charging of nanoparticles

We investigated the dependence of unipolar diffusion charging of nanoparticles on the dielectric constant of the particle material experimentally. The examined nanoparticles (10–200 nm) cover a wide range of dielectric constant but have almost the same spherical or compact morphology. Measurements of both intrinsic charged fraction and mean charge per particle show very small differences among different materials. The level of the small difference is consistent with the estimation by Fuchs’ [(1963). On the stationary charge distribution on aerosol particles in bipolar ionic atmosphere. Geofisica Pura e Applicata, 56, 185–193] theory.     

CuO/R141b纳米制冷剂在管内的流动沸腾传热特性

实验研究了CuO/R141b纳米制冷剂在水平管内的流动沸腾传热特性。为了验证实验的可靠性,将纯HCFC141b流动沸腾传热的实验结果与陈民公式进行了比较,计算值与实验值绝对平均误差为7. 4%,达到实验精度要求。实验工况：质量流率为100～350 kg·m^-2·s^-1,干度为0.3～0.8,实验段为长1400 mm、内径10 mm、壁厚1 mm的紫铜管。分别研究了不同纳米颗粒质量分数、不同干度、不同流量的传热系数。结果表明：质量流率在120 kg·m^-2·s^-1下,CuO纳米颗粒质量分数为0.1%、0.2%和0.3%时,传热系数分别平均提高了7%、10.4%、16.6%。添加纳米颗粒,强化了管内流动沸腾换热,并且其强化程度与流量、干度和颗粒浓度有关。     

超临界反溶剂过程传质数学模型

建立了有机溶剂(甲苯)液滴与超临界反溶剂(超临界CO2)之间的传质模型,用于模拟超临界反溶剂制备微纳米粉体材料的传质过程。该模型考虑了双向传质过程,既有反溶剂向溶液的扩散过程,又有溶液中的溶剂向反溶剂的“汽化”过程。液滴的传质行为是影响颗粒形态和尺寸分布的关键因素。假定传质是在一个孤立的微小液滴与包围着它的反溶剂连续相间进行的,利用描述液滴内和液滴外某一点行为的连续方程、扩散方程、能量方程和动量方程,及界面上的守恒条件进行耦合,从而建立传质过程的数学模型,并给出求解方程和求解的边界条件和初始条件,进行数值求解。