Triboelectric charge saturation on multiple particles in air and vacuum

Triboelectric charge saturation on multiple particles in air and vacuum | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Triboelectric charge saturation on multiple particles in air and vacuum Reuben Cruise, Kathryn Hadler, Stanley Starr, Jan Cilliers This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2451877/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Triboelectric charging is the transfer of charge between two materials on contact. It occurs in numerous technologies, yielding problems and opportunities. Charge transfer on contact is complex and depends on contact properties such as material composition and contact area, as well as environmental factors including humidity, temperature, and air pressure. It has been shown that there is a reduction in charge saturation on many particles in close proximity, but no explanation has been definitively verified. Here we show that dielectric breakdown of air is the primary cause of triboelectric charge saturation on single and multiple electrically insulating particles. We combine computational simulations with experiments under controlled humidity and temperature, and at air pressures ranging from atmospheric down to vacuum (10-4 mbar). We find the charge saturation on particles increases below 0.1 mbar as expected. Our results show that the combined electric field contribution of multiple charged particles causing dielectric breakdown of air leads to a reduction in saturation charge per particle as the number of particles is increased. Furthermore, these results show that it is possible to completely remove charge from particles by maintaining a low pressure environment, yielding opportunities for improved industrial powder flows and dust mitigation from surfaces. Physical sciences/Physics/Applied physics Physical sciences/Physics/Condensed-matter physics/Electronic properties and materials Physical sciences/Materials science/Techniques and instrumentation Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-2451877","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":166496181,"identity":"06251eb7-a75f-4aad-8f14-5beda412b3dc","order_by":0,"name":"Reuben Cruise","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAqUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCCBIYDHyokoJwDxGlhPDjjDIlamA/ztsE4xGgxb09+cHDmPAt5BvbDD5h5zhChRebMM4MDH7dJGDbwpBkw89wgQouERA7DwZnbJBIYGHIYmHk+EKnlMO8coBb+NyRpaQBqkQDZQpTDeJ4ZHJxxTMKwTQLImEOM9yXYkx9/+FBTJ8/Pn/zwwZtjRGiBAzYGYiNyFIyCUTAKRgFhAAAtPTQzZNhpBwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3396-8654","institution":"Imperial College London","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Reuben","middleName":"","lastName":"Cruise","suffix":""},{"id":166496183,"identity":"847acf00-9aaf-4f13-85f6-73018a3f395d","order_by":1,"name":"Kathryn Hadler","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Imperial College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kathryn","middleName":"","lastName":"Hadler","suffix":""},{"id":166496184,"identity":"6a1b8bea-b8b2-42c5-83a7-69926b75b380","order_by":2,"name":"Stanley Starr","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Imperial College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stanley","middleName":"","lastName":"Starr","suffix":""},{"id":166496185,"identity":"f95e8215-b8c5-4128-8783-413aebd8e769","order_by":3,"name":"Jan Cilliers","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Imperial College London","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jan","middleName":"","lastName":"Cilliers","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-01-06 23:40:46","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2451877/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2451877/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":32609449,"identity":"a23bbe7c-ec4b-4ed4-8d43-59516281e166","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-02-07 19:45:54","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":685169,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"triboelectricchargesaturationmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2451877/v1_covered.pdf"},{"id":31392454,"identity":"25e6eb50-ce80-44be-b223-2f96a26a9030","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-01-10 22:37:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":700602,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"triboelectricchargesaturationmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2451877/v1/5a1002ac6f3aeef6087ebb9a.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Triboelectric charge saturation on multiple particles in air and vacuum","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2451877/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2451877/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Triboelectric charging is the transfer of charge between two materials on contact. 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