Microscale Contact Electrification with Unprecedented High Intrinsic Charge Density
Contact electrification (CE) refers to the charge generation of two materials after contact and separation, benefiting applications including electrophotography, electrostatic self-assembly, and energy harvesting. However, surface asperities lead to a low effective charging area and restrict the net CE charge density. Here, atomically flat polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and graphite microflake are used to increase the contact efficiency and achieve an unprecedented intrinsic CE charge density of 2.6 mC m<sup>-2</sup>. Crucially, the unipolar negative charging region is observed at the graphite/PTFE interface, which effectively eliminates charge cancellation and amplifies net charge density, diverging from the charge mosaic pattern. These findings provide a fundamental understanding for further material/interface development toward controllable triboelectric charge density.
Authors
- Chaojie Chen
- Huachen Cui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2277-9890)
- Jinhui Nie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4356-3378)
- Zhanghui Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2505-0050)
- Xin Xia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7177-5028)
- Yunlong Zi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5133-4057)
- Quanshui Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4828-2751)
- Jie An (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0028-0079)
- Hongqiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7286-7514)
Institutions
- Guangdong University of Technology (CN)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- Southern University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Double Helix (United States) (US)
- Guangzhou HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2025-08-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202506466
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.35
Funders
- Morton Cure Paralysis Fund
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province