New Findings About Atmospheric Electricity Build-up and Dissipation

Water plays a major role in generating atmospheric electricity, which, in many cases, can be understood byconsidering the role of water in matter electrification. A new picture of electrostatic phenomena emerged during the pasttwenty years, following the discovery of charge mosaics in insulators and the atmospheric water vapor’s ability to exchangecharge with solids and liquids. Related findings are the unique position of water in the triboelectric series and charge separationduring phase transitions of water. These and other intriguing effects are now explained by water ion partition at interfaces.The new picture of matter electrification includes the Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars effect on interfacial electrification andthe various processes that manifest this effect. Still, the discovery of chemical reactions in the electrified interfaces of insulatorsrevealed a connection between chemical and electrostatic phenomena that creates new perspectives for radical change inenergy and chemical production. Moreover, this new knowledge contributes plausible explanations for hitherto challengingatmospheric electrical phenomena, including a mechanism for high voltage production in clouds.