Evaluating the Reproducibility of Triboelectric Outputs from Polymer Foils Under Lateral Sliding Motion

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Mattauch, Philipp ; Hilgert, Annika ; Orgeldinger, Christian ; Tremmel, Stephan ; Fischerauer, Gerhard:
Evaluating the Reproducibility of Triboelectric Outputs from Polymer Foils Under Lateral Sliding Motion.
In: Amanov, Auezhan ; Juoksukangas, Janne ; Kati, Valtonen ; Lamminen, Saara (Hrsg.): NORDTRIB 2026 : Book of Abstracts. - Tampere, Finnland : Tampere University , 2026 . - S. 79
ISBN 978-952-03-4666-9

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Abstract

Triboelectrification describes the effect that a pair of previously electrically neutral materials exchange electrical charge after being brought into contact with each other. Recent research tries to utilize this effect for the purposes of energy harvesting and sensory use cases. To obtain an electric signal, the surfaces must be brought into and removed from contact, for example by lateral sliding. A characterizing electrical parameter is the surface charge density that, for a specific contact, relates the amount of charges exchanged to the contact area.
We chose to use polyimide (PI) and polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) as triboelectric materials because both have been reported to act as negatively charged partners in the triboelectric series, although with different charge densities. For the experiments, PI foils with a thickness of 75 μm and PTFE foils with a thickness of 80 μm were used and attached to an aluminum tape with conductive adhesive. A sliding mode test bench was used to measure the short circuit current between the two aluminum electrodes due to electrostatic induction. To correlate the electric signal to the process conditions, the acceleration, normal force and friction force were recorded simultaneously. In addition, ambient temperature and humidity were monitored.
A total of 30 repetitions were performed for each material. Each individual test lasted for one hour, with an applied normal force of 3 N, a sliding distance of 15 mm and a sliding rate of 3 Hz. In addition to the long-term measurements, a full factorial test matrix was conducted, varying the applied force from 1 N to 5 N and the sliding rate from 1 Hz to 5 Hz.
In general, the results suggest a direct relationship between the short circuit current and the sliding velocity. On the other hand, the surface charge density seems to be independent of the sliding velocity, which is backed up by the theoretical model. However, an increasing normal force led to a slightly increasing surface charge density. Long-term tests showed that running-in behavior is always observable. Nevertheless, differences in amplitude and signal shape were observed between individual samples of identical material.