Formation of Interfacial Dipole Formations during Contact Electrification

This study introduces a plausible origin of the driving force for elec- tron transfer in contact electrification and triboelectrification for dielectric materials. As two material approaches each other, surface lattices of both materials form a weak interaction, the perturbed states of each surface lattice can be approximated a dipole. These surface dipoles induce a potential field in the proximity and provides a driving force for electron transfer. A tribopair of barium titanate and magnesia are investigated as an example. The simulation. results show that such tribopair can generate up to 104 V/cm², which is comparable with the experimental measurements in published literature.