Electrostatic proximity force,toner adhesion,and a new electrophotographic development system

It has recently been shown that the electrostatic adhesion of a discrete distribution of charge points that are uniformly distributed around a sphere in contact with a conductive plane is larger than the conventional result, (1/4πε₀)(Q²/4r²), by (1+4/π), where Q is the total charge and r is the radius of the spherical particle. This new electrostatic force, the 4/π term, is due to discrete nature of charge and is called the electrostatic proximity force. This electrostatic proximity force is active at every contact point between a real, charged insulating particle and a conductive plane. By minimizing the number of contact points, the adhesion of electrophotographic toner particles to a conductive surface has been reduced by at least a factor of 10 compared to commercially available toners, allowing the viability of a new electrophotographic development system: a dc-jump, non-magnetic, monocomponent development system.     

Dynamic self-assembly of rings of charged metallic spheres

This Letter describes dynamic self-assembly in a system of stainless steel spheres ( approximately 1 mm in diameter) rolling on a flat dielectric surface under the influence of an external magnetic field that rotates parallel to the plane of the surface. As the spheres move, they charge triboelectrically. Self-assembly is mediated by two types of electrostatic interactions among these charges: (i) attraction between negatively charged regions of the surface and positively charged spheres and (ii) repulsion between the like-charged spheres. The spheres organize into highly ordered rings as a result of these electrostatic interactions.     

Interaction of a dielectric macroparticle with a point charge in plasma

The electrostatic interaction of a charged spherical dielectric macroparticle with a point charge in a plasma in the presence of an external uniform electric field is considered. The electrostatic force and the torque acting on the macroparticle have been determined, and the form of the interaction potential has been established for a nonuniform distribution of free charge on the macroparticle surface. A simple (for calculations) expression for the interaction potential that describes well the exact potential at all interparticle distances is proposed. The angular velocity of the spinning of dust particles caused by a nonuniform distribution of free charge over their surface has been estimated.     

Electrostatic force of dust deposition originating from contact between particles and photovoltaic glass

Charged photovoltaic glass produces an electrostatic field. The electrostatic field exerts an electrostatic force on dust particles, thus making more dust particles deposited on the glass. In this paper, the contact electrification between the deposited dust particles and the photovoltaic glass is studied. Meanwhile, the surface charge density model of the photovoltaic glass and the electrostatic force of charged particles are analyzed. The results show that with the increasing of the particle impact speed and the inclination angle of the photovoltaic panel, the charges on particles increase to different degrees.Under a given condition, the electrostatic forces acting on the charged particles at different positions above the glass plate form a bell-shaped distribution at a macro level, and present a maximum value in the center of the plate. As the distance between the particle and the charged glass decreases, the electrostatic force exerted on the particle increases significantly and fluctuates greatly. However, its mean value is still higher than the force caused by gravity and the adhesion force,reported by some studies. Therefore, we suggest that photovoltaic glass panels used in the severe wind-sand environment should be made of an anti-static transparent material, which can lessen the dust particles accumulated on the panels.     

Analysis of the electrostatic force on a dielectric particle with partial charge distribution

This paper presents the analysis of the electrostatic force acting on a charged dielectric particle on a grounded plane. The force has been determined by a numerical field calculation method to make clear the effect of particle dielectric constant and charge distribution on the particle surface. The charge is treated to be distributed in three ways: (a) uniformly over entire surface, (b) partially on the upper, or (c) on the lower part of a particle. The calculation results show that, if a particle with dielectric constant ?_p = 3 is partially charged on the lower part by a zenith angle π/2, π/4 and π/8, the force shall be higher by 0.7, 4.3 and 20 times, respectively, than that for a uniform charging with the same charge amount. On the other hand, the force becomes weaker when charge is on the upper part. The effect of the particle dielectric constant is found to be dependent on the charge distribution. With charge uniform on the entire surface or on the upper part, the force always increases with the dielectric constant. However, when surface charge is restricted to a small area at the lower part of the particle (θ_q < π/4), the force may decrease with increasing the dielectric constant.     

Screened electrostatics of charged particles on a water droplet

We study the electrostatic properties of charged particles trapped at an interface in a water-in-oil microemulsion. The electrostatic potential and the counterion distribution in the water droplet are given in terms of the ratio of the Debye screening length κ^-1 and the droplet radius R. In the limit R→∞ we recover the well-known results for a flat interface. Finite-size corrections are obtained in terms of the small parameter 1/κR. Part of the counterions spread along the interface and form a charged layer of one Debye length thickness. In particular, there is a uniform surface charge contribution. We derive explicit expressions for the electric field, the mobile charge density, and the charge-induced pressure on the interface.     

PIV measurement of toner particle motion in a micro-gap in the development process of electrophotography

In the development process of electrophotography, charged dielectric toner particles move in a micro-gap between the photoreceptor and the development roller to form images by the action of electrostatic force. To improve image quality, it is important to clarify the toner particle motion and the effects of the electric field on this motion. In the present study, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was applied to measure the toner particle motion and the results were compared to calculated results. It was confirmed that the toner velocity increased with increasing electric field intensity, and that the measurement results agreed with the calculated results. These results indicated the usefulness of PIV in analyzing toner particle motion in the development process.     

Long-ranged attraction between charged polystyrene spheres at aqueous interfaces

We report an optical and atomic force microscopic study of interactions between charged polystyrene spheres at a water-air interface. Optical observations of bonded particle clusters and formation of circular chainlike structures at the interface demonstrate that the interaction potential is of dipole origin. Atomic force microscope phase images show patchy domains on the colloidal surface, indicating that the surface charge distribution is not uniform as is commonly believed. Such surface heterogeneity introduces in-plane dipoles, leading to an attraction at short interparticle distances.     

基于AFM的固液界面表面电荷密度测量方法

固液界面的表面电荷会影响微纳流体系统的流体阻力,因此如何测量固液界面的表面电荷密度以及分析表面电荷的产生机理对于研究表面电荷对流体阻力的影响具有较大的意义。提出了一种基于接触式AFM的固液界面表面电荷密度测量方法。基于该方法测量了浸在去离子水和0.01 mol/L的NaCl溶液中的高硼硅玻璃和二氧化硅样本的表面电荷密度,并研究了溶液pH值对表面电荷的影响。研究结果表明高硼硅玻璃和二氧化硅由于表面硅烷基的电离带负电。溶液pH值和离子浓度的增加都会增加浸在去离子水和0.01 mol/L的NaCl溶液中高硼硅玻璃和二氧化硅的表面电荷密度的绝对值。     

Thermodynamic limit in a charged plasma in equilibrium

We study the existence conditions for the thermodynamic limit in the chain of BBGKY equations for the equilibrium correlation functions of a charged plasma. It is shown that in order for the thermodynamic limit to exist the charge of the plasma cannot increase faster than the surface area of the plasma. When this condition is satisfied the equilibrium correlation functions of the charged plasma are asymptotically identical to the correlation functions of a neutral plasma in a self-consistent electrostatic field, which depends only on the one-particle correlation functions. For a plasma which is uniform everywhere except in a thin surface region, this field is found in explicit form. For a plasma occupying an infinite half-space, the problem is equivalent to a neutral plasma near a charged wall.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, 11–16, February, 1987.     

Nonlinear analysis of the equilibrium shape of a charged conducting drop in an electrostatic suspension

An analytical asymptotic expression is derived that describes the equilibrium shape of a charged drop of an ideal incompressible conducting liquid suspended in superposed collinear uniform electrostatic and gravitational fields. The expression is obtained in an approximation quadratic in the small amplitude of deviation of the equilibrium drop from a sphere, with the electrostatic field dimensionless strength taken as a measure of the deviation amplitude. With allowance for the gravitational and electrostatic fields and interaction between the drop self-charge and external electrostatic field, the equilibrium shape of the drop is found to be very close to a spheroid when the charge and the electrostatic field strength are far from their critical values. The analysis is carried out with a refined procedure of calculation of the equilibrium shape of drops placed in external force fields.     

界面极化注极聚丙烯薄膜驻极体的电荷存储特性研究

本文报道一种基于双层介质界面极化机理的新型驻极体注极技术: 借助辅助层对PP薄膜进行注极. 采用表面电位测试方法考察了注极温度、注极电压对所获PP薄膜驻极体电荷存储性能的影响, 并利用热刺激放电技术研究了其高温电荷存储性能, 同时测试了PP薄膜驻极体在X和Y方向的静电场分布. 结果表明: 界面极化注极是一种比电晕注极更为优异的驻极体形成方法. 在一定温度下, 驻极体表面电位随注极电压的增加而增加, 而且两者呈线性关系, 这一结果与注极过程的电荷积聚方程的分析完全一致. 注极温度的影响研究表明, 在保持注极电压不变(注极电压范围为0.5–3.0 kV)的情况下, 温度低于75 ℃时, 温度的变化对于注极效果的影响不明显; 当注极温度大于75 ℃ 时, PP薄膜驻极体的表面电位随注极温度的增加而增加. 表面电位随时间的变化研究表明, PP薄膜驻极体具有良好的电荷存储稳定性. 对其表面电位分布的测试表明, 界面极化注极所形成的PP薄膜驻极体呈现均匀的静电场分布.     

用圆 坐标示形冰筒的表电问题

用圆环坐标分析带电球形法拉第冰筒的静电问题,得出其空间电势分布函数,证明内外同电荷的差为常量,计算其电容量,并给出静电应用的近似法。     

Measuring technique for static electricity using focused sound

A novel method is proposed for non-contact measurement of the distribution of electrostatic charge on a surface based on scanning the sample surface with a focused high frequency acoustic beam to excite movement of the sample surface. An electric field is induced by exciting a charged film-like object, and an electric field sensor measures it instead of an electrostatic field. The focused ultrasound waves are generated by controlling individually the phase of each 285 airborne ultrasound transducers.     

Effective Electrostatic Interactions Between Two Overall Neutral Surfaces with Quenched Charge Heterogeneity Over Atomic Length Scale

Using Monte Carlo results as a reference, a classical density functional theory (CDFT) is shown to reliably predict the forces between two heterogeneously charged surfaces immersed in an electrolyte solution, whereas the Poisson–Boltzmann (PB) theory is demonstrated to deteriorate obviously for the same system even if the system parameters considered fall within the validity range of the PB theory in the homogeneously charged surfaces. By applying the tested CDFT, we study the effective electrostatic potential of mean force (EPMF) between two face–face planar and hard surfaces of zero net charge on which positive and negative charges are separated and considered to present as discontinuous spots on the inside edges of the two surfaces. Main conclusions are summarized as follows: (i) strength of the EPMF in the surface charge separation case is very sensitively and positively correlated with the surface charge separation level and valency of the salt ion. Particularly, the charge separation level and the salt ion valency have a synergistic effect, which makes high limit of the EPMF strength in the surface charge separation case significantly go beyond that of the ideal homogeneously charged surface counterpart at average surface charge density similar to the average surface positive or negative charge density in the charge separation case. (ii) The surface charge distribution patterns mainly influence sign of the EPMF: symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns induce repulsive and attractive (at small distances) EPMF, respectively; but with low valency salt ions and low charge separation level the opposite may be the case. With simultaneous presence of both higher valency cation and anion, the EPMF can be repulsive at intermediate distances for asymmetrical patterns. (iii) Salt ion size has a significant impact, which makes the EPMF tend to become more and more repulsive with the ion diameter regardless of the surface charge distribution patterns and the valency of the salt ion; whereas if the 1:1 type electrolyte and the symmetrical patterns are considered, then the opposite may be the case. All of these findings can be explained self-consistently from several perspectives: an excess adsorption of the salt ions (induced by the surface charge separation) serving to raise the osmotic pressure between the plates, configuration fine-tuning in the thinner ion adsorption layer driven by the energy decrease principle, direct Coulombic interactions operating between charged objects on the two face-to-face plates involved, and net charge strength in the ion adsorption layer responsible for the net electrostatic repulsion.     

Spin relaxation measurements of electrostatic bias in intermolecular exploration

We utilize the paramagnetic contribution to proton spin-lattice relaxation rate constants induced by freely diffusing charged paramagnetic centers to investigate the effect of charge on the intermolecular exploration of a protein by the small molecule. The proton NMR spectrum provided 255 resolved resonances that report how the explorer molecule local concentration varies with position on the surface. The measurements integrate over local dielectric constant variations, and, in principle, provide an experimental characterization of the surface free energy sampling biases introduced by the charge distribution on the protein. The experimental results for ribonuclease A obtained using positive, neutral, and negatively charged small nitroxide radicals are qualitatively similar to those expected from electrostatic calculations. However, while systematic electrostatic trends are apparent, the three different combinations of the data sets do not yield internally consistent values for the electrostatic contribution to the intermolecular free energy. We attribute this failure to the weakness of the electrostatic sampling bias for charged nitroxides in water and local variations in effective translational diffusion constant at the water-protein interface, which enters the nuclear spin relaxation equations for the nitroxide-proton dipolar coupling.     

Molecular dynamics investigation into the electric charge effect on the operation of ion-based carbon nanotube oscillators

The fabrication of nanoscale oscillators working in the gigahertz (GHz) range and beyond has now become the focal center of interest to many researchers. Motivated by this issue, this paper proposes a new type of nano-oscillators with enhanced operating frequency in which both the inner core and outer shell are electrically charged. To this end, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to investigate the mechanical oscillatory behavior of ions, and in particular chloride ion, tunneling through electrically charged carbon nanotubes (CNTs). It is assumed that the electric charges with similar sign and magnitude are evenly distributed on two ends of nanotube. The interatomic interactions between carbon atoms and van der Waals (vdW) interactions between ion and nanotube are respectively modeled by Tersoff-Brenner and Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential functions, whereas the electrostatic interactions between ion and electric charges are modeled by Coulomb potential function. A comprehensive study is conducted to get an insight into the effects of different parameters such as sign and magnitude of electric charges, nanotube radius, nanotube length and initial conditions (initial separation distance and velocity) on the oscillatory behavior of chloride ion-charged CNT oscillators. It is shown that, the chloride ion frequency inside negatively charged CNTs is lower than that inside positively charged ones with the same magnitude of electric charge, while it is higher than that inside uncharged CNTs. It is further observed that, higher frequencies are generated at higher magnitudes of electric charges distributed on the nanotube.     

Corona-discharge-based neutralization of charged granular insulating materials in contact with an electrode of opposite polarity

Charge neutralization is a key operation in many electrostatic processes. A wide-range of charge neutralizers have already been developed for various applications: eliminate shock and ignition hazards, avoid electrostatic discharges that might affect the operation of electronic equipment, reduce electrostatic adhesion forces that might stick granular materials in pneumatic conveyors, and so on. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate several methods of charge neutralization for charged granular insulating materials spread on an electrode energized from a voltage source of opposite polarity, a situation encountered – for instance – in two-metallic-belt tribo-aero-electrostatic separators, and which is not covered by commercially-available solutions. Three corona-discharge-based charge neutralization systems are studied: (i) DC-biased AC voltage applied to a corona dual-type electrode; (ii) DC-biased AC voltage applied to a triode-type electrode system; (iii) DC voltage applied to a corona dual-type electrode. The charged samples of polycarbonate granules are obtained at the outlet of a tribo-aero-electrostatic separator. The electric charge per mass ratio of each sample is measured before and after neutralization. The third of the above-mentioned charge neutralization solutions seems to be the most effective solution, but it requires an appropriate adjustment of the DC voltage applied to the corona dual-type electrode.     

Adsorption of polyelectrolytes at an oppositely charged surface

We develop a scaling theory of polyelectrolyte adsorption at an oppositely charged surface. At low surface charge densities, the thickness of the adsorbed layer is determined by the balance between electrostatic attraction to the charged surface and chain entropy. At high surface charge densities, it is determined by the balance between electrostatic attraction and short-range monomer-monomer repulsion. These different stabilizing mechanisms result in the nonmonotonic dependence of the layer thickness on the surface charge density.