Complete Prevention of Contact Electrification by Molecular Engineering

Abstract

Electrostatic charges are easily generated on surfaces during contact electrification. With sizes several orders of magnitude smaller than that of surface topography, these invisible charges have emerged as a new dimension in mediating the functions of surfaces such as energy conversion, liquid transport, reactivity, and adsorbability. However, charges accumulation can also pose many undesirable consequences. Despite notable progress, existing approaches in engineering antistatic surfaces suffer from limitations such as the need of modifying bulk materials or delicate control of patterning on surfaces that rely on the neutralization of generated charges. Herein, we report a general toolbox for designing antistatic coatings by leveraging on chemically heterogeneous components with electron-donating and electron-accepting functional groups to molecularly engineer the surface potential to achieve an electrostatic homogeneity and completely prevent charge generation. Our approach is general, which allows the facile fabrication of antistatic coatings on various materials, even flexible and curved, with good re-writability and transparency.

Keywords: antistatic coating, electrostatic charges, molecular engineering, surface potential