Static Electricity: Static electricity is the build-up of electrical charges on the surface of some object or material.

Static electricity is usually created when materials are pulled apart or rubbed together, causing positive (+) charges to collect on one material and negative ( ) charges on the other surface. !esults from static electricity may be spar"s, shoc"s or materials clinging together. Static electricity is the accumulation of electrical charges on the surface of a material, usually an insulator or non-conductor of electricity. #t is called $static$ because there is no current flowing, as there is in alternating current (%&) or direct current ('&) electricity. (hen )erspe* or )olythene, along with various other materials is rubbed, they may gain or lose electrons, depending on the material. %s electrons are negatively charged, this means that the substance becomes either positively or negatively charged itself.

+ypically, two materials are involved in static electricity, with one having an e*cess of electrons or negative ( )
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charges on its surface and the other material having an e*cess of positive (+) electrical charges. %toms near the surface of a material that have lost one or more electrons will have a positive (+) electrical charge. #f one of the materials is an electrical conductor that is grounded, its charges will drain off immediately, leaving the other material still charged. Cause of static electricity: Static electricity is usually caused when certain materials are rubbed against each other-li"e wool on plastic or the soles of your shoes on the carpet. #t is also caused when materials are pressed against each other and pulled apart. +he process causes electrons to be pulled from the surface of one material and relocated on the surface of the other material. #t is called the turboelectric effect or turboelectric charging. +he material that loses electrons ends up with an e*cess of positive (+) charges. +he material that gains electrons ends up an e*cess of negative ( ) charges on its surface. Static electricity is electricity that does not flow in a current. Static electricity generated by rubbing two nonmagnetic objects together. Dry air preferred: Static electricity is formed much better when the air is dry or the humidity is low. (hen the air is humid, water molecules can collect on the surface of various materials. +his can prevent the build-up of electrical charges. +he reason has to do with the shape of the water molecule and its own electrical forces. Rainstorms: .ut when there is e*treme turbulence among water drops, such as in a thunderstorm cloud, static electric charges can build up on the water drops. .enjamin /ran"lin showed that static electricity in created in a thunderstorm cloud by flying a "ite in a storm. 0e detected the static electricity by seeing the hairs on the "ite string stand on end and by creating a static electric spar" with a metal "ey. Properties or effects of static electricity:
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Static electricity can cause materials to attract or repel each other. #t can also cause a spar" to jump from one material to another. Attraction: !ub a balloon on a wool sweater. +he balloon collects negative electrical charges on its surface and the wool collects positive charges. +hen stic" the balloon to the wall, which does not have an e*cess of either charge. +he balloon will also stic" to the wool, although the charges may jump bac" to the original material in a short time. #t can also run a comb through hair to charge the comb with static electricity. +he comb can then be used to attract neutral pieces of tissue.

Repulsion: &omb your hair on a dry day or after using a hair drier. +he plastic comb collects negative charges from the hair, causing the hair to have an e*cess of positive charges. Since li"e charges repel, the hair strand will tend to push away from each other, causing the $flyaway hair$ effect. Sparks: #f there are enough positive (+) electrical charges on one object or material and enough negative ( ) charges on the surface of the other object the attraction between the charges may be great enough to cause electrons to jump the air gap between the objects. 2nce a few electrons start to move across the gap, they heat up the air, such that more and more will jump across the gap. +his heats the air even more. #t all happens very fast, and the air gets so hot that it glows for a short time. +hat is a spar". +he same thing happens with lightning, e*cept on a much larger scale, with higher voltages and current.

Properties and Characteristics of Static Electricity: Static electricity is what ma"es us une*pectedly feel a shoc" on our fingertips when we touch something that has a build-up of an electric charge on it. #t is also what ma"es our hair stand up during dry weather and woollen garments crac"le when they come out of a hot dryer. +here are a variety of components, causes and eliminators of static electricity.

How can static electricity be controlled: 4eutralising the static charge of non-conductors is carried out by means of active ionisation. Simco is worldrenowned as a producer of ionisation e5uipment. %t the high-voltage points of this e5uipment, air molecules are split up into positive and negative ions. +he static charge on the product attracts ions of the opposite polarity, thus neutralising the material. Simco has a wide range of e5uipment to choose from depending on which type is the most suitable for certain production processes or applications. 0owever, static electricity can also be useful. 6sing high voltage, materials can be given a static charge so that they will stic" to each other temporarily, thus simplifying production processes. How Static Charges Hinder anufacturing Processes: Con!erting: static charge build-up results in dust and dirt attraction to web. 7aterial is rejected. Packaging: static charge build-up attracts contaminants so that clear labels do not stic". )roduction decreases.

Plastics: injection melded parts attract contaminants and shoc" personnel during processing due to static charges. 9fficiency declines. "e#tiles: static charges cause threads to bind and brea" in creels and warpers.7achine downtime. $onwo!ens: trim collection systems clog due to increasing static charge build-up on materials in pneumatic conveyors. #ncreased maintenance. Printing: sheet-fed press feed and delivery is troublesome due to static. 6ntimely delivery. %raphic Arts: static charge build-up while processing film results in costly retouching or rema"es. 'issatisfied customers. edical De!ice anufacturing: static charges attract contaminants to small plastic parts prior to pac"aging. 'ecreased 5uality. Electronics: destructive electrostatic discharge (9S') causes latent damage to board assembly. /ield failure. How S& C' Static Electricity Control E(uipment Enhances anufacturing Processes: Con!erting: neutrali:ed material remains free of dust and dirt during rewind. 'ecreased rejects. Packaging: elimination of static charges on labels and;or bottles allows for successful application of product labels. #ncreased production. Plastics: following neutrali:ation, injection molded parts do not stic" together while being conveyed. <ine efficiency increases. "e#tiles: threads run smoothly through creels and warpers run at optimum speeds without undue maintenance. 4o unnecessary downtime. $on)o!ens: trim collection system runs without interruption due to static elimination of charges prior to entering cyclone. #ncreased production. Printing: sheet-fed delivery is clean and stac"ed accurately-ready for bindery without adjustment. 2n time delivery. %raphic Arts: processed film remains dust free, eliminating the need for rema"es. Satisfied customers.

edical De!ice anufacturing: contaminant free pac"aging of small plastic parts due to elimination of static charges on parts and pac"aging materials. #ncreased 5uality. Electronics and Semiconductor: protection from 9S' during assembly wor" ensures achievement of 5uality assurance standards. !educed product failure. Dielectric properties of materials: % capacitor filled with a dielectric material has a real capacitance >r times greater than would have a capacitor with the same electrodes in vacuum. +he dielectric-filled capacitor would also have a power dissipation ( per unit volume at each point when, resulting from an applied voltage, a sinusoidal electric field of fre5uency f and rootmean-s5uare value 9 e*ists at that point. +his power dissipation is given by ( ? 1@f91A. +hus A is a measure of the energy dissipation per period, and for this reason it is "nown as the loss-factor. +he comple* permittivity is often represented in the %rgand plane with > as abscissa and A as ordinate, giving a curve with fre5uency as parameter. +he join of any point on this curve to the origin therefore represents the comple* conjugate B of the comple* permittivity where B ? > + jA. 6nfortunately, the use of the symbol B to represent comple* permittivity is widespread and has become established in the literature, and care is needed if confusion over signs is to be avoided. +he join to the origin ma"es an angle C with the abscissa, such that tan C ? A; >. +hus ( may be rewritten as ( ? 1@f91> tan C. 0ence C is "nown as the loss angle, and tan C is "nown as the loss tangent. +he application of a sinusoidal voltage of root-means5uare value D to the dielectric-filled capacitor results in a current flow in the e*ternal circuit which leads the voltage by a phase angle or power-factor angle E, where E is the complement of C. +hus, the power dissipation in the capacitor, given by #D cos E may also be e*pressed as #D
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sin C. Since in most cases in engineering practice C is small, sin C tan C and the power dissipation is given to a good appro*imation by #D tan C. #t should be noted that no such appro*imation is involved in the e*pression for ( in the previous paragraph. (hen the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation is in the optical region, the velocity v of propagation through a loss-free transmitting medium of refractive inde* n is given by v ? c;n, where c is the velocity in free space. +he velocity is also given by v ? c;(Gr>r),;1 where Gr, is the relative permeability. +hus for loss-free non-magnetic materials, for which Gr ? ,, r> ? n1. 0owever, in general losses do occur, and the material is characteri:ed by a comple* refractive inde* given by ? n j", where " is the absorption coefficient. +hen r ? 1, or r> H jrA, ? (n H j")1, from which it follows that r> ? n1 H "1 and rA ? 1n". 4evertheless, when the loss is small, so that " II n, then r> n1. +he use of these relationships allows values of r at high fre5uencies to be derived from optical measurements. %s the fre5uency is reduced, specially designed interferometers (infra-red), free radiation methods (sub-millimetric wavelengths), wave-guides, coa*ial lines and resonant cavities (centimetric wavelengths), and J meters and bridges (radio fre5uencies to '.&.) have all been used. +ime-domain spectroscopy, involving an analysis of the response of the medium to a step-function field, is capable in principle, and has had some success in practice, in giving a rapid measurement of over a very wide fre5uency spectrum. +he relative permittivity is directly related to the electronic, atomic and orientational polari:ation of the material. +he first two of these are induced by the applied field, and are caused by displacement of the electrons within the atom, and atoms within the molecule, respectively. +he third only e*ists in polar materials, i.e. those with molecules having a permanent dipole moment. 9lectronic and atomic polari:ation are temperature independent, but orientational polari:ation, depending on the e*tent to which the applied field can order the
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permanent dipoles against the disordering effect of the thermal energy of their environment, varies inversely with absolute temperature. %ll of these polari:ation mechanisms can only operate up to a limiting fre5uency, after which a further fre5uency increase will result in their disappearance. .ecause of the spring-li"e nature of the forces involved, this is accompanied by an absorption of the resonance type for electronic and atomic polari:ation, but for orientational polari:ation the disappearance, accompanied by a broader pea" in the loss factor, is more gradual, because the mechanism involved is of the rela*ation type, and may involve a broad distribution of rela*ation times. #ndeed, the decline in > may be so gradual that A may appear almost constant, and be correspondingly small, over a wide fre5uency range. +his applies particularly to some polymers commonly used in engineering practice, many of which are polar. +hose which are non-polar, usually with r>I 1.=, show nearly constant values of > and A over the entire electrical fre5uency spectrum. +he fre5uency at which these mechanisms drop out is related to the inertia of the moving entities involved. +ypically, electronic polari:ation persists until a fre5uency of about ,L,F 0:, atomic polari:ation until about ,L,3 0:, while the dispersion for orientational polari:ation may lie anywhere within a wide fre5uency range, say ,L1H,L,L 0:, depending on the material and its temperature. #n addition to these polari:ation mechanisms, the e*istence of interfacial effects such as macroscopic discontinuities in the material, or bloc"ing at the electrodes, causes the trapping of charge carriers, and such phenomena, as well as the inclusion in the dielectric of impurities giving rise to conducting regions, result in behaviour classified under the general heading of 7a*wellH(agner effects. +hese give rise to an effective polari:ation and associated loss, the fre5uency behaviour of which is similar to that of orientational polari:ation, with a dispersion region which may lie in the region of , 0: or lower. (hen orientation polari:ation is operative, it is usually the dominant polari:ation mechanism present. +he classical theory of this mechanism is due to 'ebye. /or a single rela*ation
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time N, the variation of r with angular fre5uency O is given by the 'ebye e5uation, (r P);(s P) ? (, jO@);(l + O1N1), where s and P are the relative permittivities at fre5uencies much lower and much higher (but not high enough to involve any reduction in atomic or electronic polari:ations) respectively than the anomalous dispersion region. 95uating real and imaginary parts gives (>r P) ; (s P) ? ON;(, + O1N1) P) ? ,;(, + O1N1) and A;(s

#f A is plotted against >, the &oleH&ole plots results. +his is a semicircle if the 'ebye e5uation is obeyed. /re5uently e*perimental results yield a circular arc, rather than a semicircle, with its centre below the abscissa. Such behaviour can be e*pressed as a suitable distribution of rela*ation times, though no satisfactory physical reason for doing so has yet been established. +here is a variety of other shapes obtained in practice, such as the s"ewed arc in which the high fre5uency end of the arc appro*imates to a straight line. %nything other than a perfect semicircle is now ta"en as evidence of co-operative effects within the dielectric. +he permittivity of many substances changes not only with fre5uency and temperature, but also with specimen age and history. +wo specimens of nominally the same material may have significantly different permittivity because of different manufacturing processes, different amounts of o*idation, and different inclusions, some of which might have been deliberately introduced, e.g. antio*idants. /or such reasons, tables of values should be used as an indication of the magnitudes to be e*pected, and not as a source of precise data which can be repeated by accurate measurements on particular test specimens, e*cept in cases in which the physical and chemical state of both the reference material and the test specimen are very closely specified. +he properties of ferroelectric materials depend on so many factors that it is inappropriate to include them in tables of data. Qenerally, they have permittivity of the order of a thousand, strongly
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dependent on applied voltage and temperature, and e*hibit considerable power loss. Dielectric Properties of Polymers: Understanding the structure of plastics (and in particular, the fluoropolymers) not only gives a better understanding of chemical resistance but also of the electrical properties. Albert Einstein said that God does not play dice with the universe, and this is !ust as true on the micro scale as it is on the macro scale. "tructure determines properties at all levels. #ost plastics are dielectrics or insulators (poor conductors of electricity) and resist the flow of a current$. %his is one of the most useful properties of plastics and ma&es much of our modern society possible through the use of plastics as wire coatings, switches and other electrical and electronic products. 'espite this, dielectric brea&down can occur at sufficiently high voltages to give current transmission and possible mechanical damage to the plastic. %he application of a potential difference (voltage) causes in the movement of electrons and when the electrons are free to move there is a flow of current. #etals can be thought of as a collection of atomic nuclei e(isting in a sea of electrons and when a voltage is applied the electrons are free to move and to conduct a current. )olymers and the atoms that ma&e them up have their electrons tightly bound to the central long chain and side groups through covalent bonding. *ovalent bonding ma&es it much more difficult for most conventional polymers to support the movement of electrons and therefore they act as insulators. +ot all polymers behave the same when sub!ected to voltage and plastics can be classified as polar or non, polar to describe their variations in behaviour. %he polar plastics do not have a fully covalent bond and there is a slight imbalance in the electronic charge of the molecule. A simple e(ample of this type of behaviour would be that of the water molecule (-./). %he conventional representation of the molecule is that shown at right. %he two hydrogen atoms are attached to the o(ygen atom and the overall molecule has no charge. 0n reality, the electrons tend to be around the o(ygen atom more than around the hydrogen atoms and this gives the o(ygen a slightly negative charge and the hydrogen atoms a slightly positive charge. %his is shown in the diagram at right where the grey areas show where the electrons are more often found. %he overall water molecule is neutral and does not carry a charge but the imbalance of the electrons creates a polar molecule. %his polar dipole will move in the presence of an electric field and attempt to line up with the electric field in much the same way as a compass needle attempts to line up with the earth s magnetic field.

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0n polar plastics, dipoles are created by an imbalance in the distribution of electrons and in the presence of an electric field the dipoles will attempt to move to align with the field. %his will create dipole polari1ation of the material and because movement of the dipoles is involved there is a time element to the movement. E(amples of polar plastics are )##A, )2*, )A (+ylon), )* and these materials tend to be only moderately good as insulators. %he non,polar plastics are truly covalent and generally have symmetrical molecules. 0n these materials there are no polar dipoles present and the application of an electric field does not try to align any dipoles. %he electric field does, however, move the electrons slightly in the direction of the electric field to create electron polari1ation , in this case the only movement is that of electrons and this is effectively instantaneous. E(amples of non,polar plastics are )%3E (and many other fluoropolymers), )E, )) and )" and these materials tend to have high resistivities and low dielectric constants. %he structure of the polymer determines if it is polar or non,polar and this determines many of the dielectric properties of the plastic. Measurements of Electrical Properties: Dielectric Constant (alternating current)4 %he dielectric constant is a measure of the influence of a particular dielectric on the capacitance of a condenser. 0t measures how well a material separates the plates in a capacitor and is defined as the ratio of the capacitance of a set of electrodes with the dielectric material between them to the capacitance of the same electrodes with a vacuum between them. %he dielectric constant for a vacuum is $ and for all other materials it is greater than $. 3or polar plastics the alternating current fre5uency is an important factor because of the time ta&en to align the polar dipoles. At very low fre5uencies the dipoles have sufficient time to align with the field before it changes direction and the dielectric constant is high. At very high fre5uencies the dipoles do not have time to align before the field changes direction and the dielectric constant is lower. At intermediate fre5uencies the dipoles move but have not completed their movement before the field changes direction and they must realign with the changed field. )olar plastics at low fre5uencies (67 -1) generally have dielectric constants of between 8 and 9 and at high fre5uencies ($76 -1) generally have dielectric constants of between 8 and :. 3or non,polar plastics the dielectric constant is independent of the alternating current fre5uency because the electron polari1ation is effectively instantaneous. +on,polar plastics always have dielectric constants of less than 8. Power *actor +alternating current,:
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%he power factor is a measure of the energy absorbed by the material as the alternating current constantly changes direction and the dipoles try to align themselves with the field. As the dipoles try to align themselves with the e(ternal field they will always be slightly out of phase and will lag behind the field. %he amount of lagging is measured by the phase angle (5) and the power factor is defined as cos 5. %he power factor can be thought of as a measure of the internal friction created by the alternating current and will define how much a material heats up when placed in an alternating field. 3or polar plastics the power factor is dependent on the alternating current fre5uency. At very low and at very high fre5uencies both the power factor and the amount of internal heating are low , the dipoles either have time to align or do not have time to align before the field changes direction. At intermediate fre5uencies the power factor goes through a ma(imum and the internal friction is high and substantial heating of the plastic can ta&e place. %his ma(imum in the power factor is also the basis for microwave ovens. %he microwave generator in the oven applies an alternating field (in the microwave region) to the food. %he fre5uency of the microwave field is matched to the fre5uency that is the ma(imum for the power factor of the water dipole. %he polar dipole water molecules constantly attempt to align with the alternating field and the resulting internal friction heats up the food. +on,polar materials or polar materials with a ma(imum in the power factor at different fre5uencies either do not heat up at all or gain relatively little heat. %he fact that the microwaves act directly on the water molecules means that foods heat up evenly throughout their volume and coo&ing ta&es place as much internally as it does e(ternally. 3or non, polar plastics the electronic polari1ation is effectively in phase with the e(ternal field (i.e. 5 ; 7 and cos 5 is also appro(imately 7) and the power factor is generally less than 7.7778. +on,polar plastics suffer from very little internal friction and minimal internal heating. Dielectric Strength (direct current): +he dielectric strength is the direct current voltage between two electrodes at which dielectric brea"down occurs and is an indicator of how good an insulator the material is. +he voltage is increased until the material brea"s down, there is an arc across the electrodes and substantial current flows. 7ost plastics have good dielectric strengths (in the order of ,LL to 3LL "D;cm). -olume Resisti!ity (direct current): %he volume resistivity is a measure of the resistance of the material in terms of its volume. A voltage is applied across the plates and the current
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measured to allow calculation of the volume resistivity. #ost plastics have very high volume resistivities (in the order of $7$6<m) and are therefore good insulators. Surface Resisti!ity (direct current): +he surface resistivity is a measure of the resistance of the material to a surface flow of current. #t is the ratio of the applied direct voltage and the resulting current along the surface of the material per unit width. Surface resistivity is measured in S. "racking and Arc Resistance (direct current): +hese are measures of how long a material can resist forming a continuous conduction path under a high voltage;low current arc.

"he En!ironment and Di Electrical Properties: +he electrical properties of plastics may also be changed 5uite dramatically by the environmental conditions, such as moisture and;or temperature and this is particularly true for polar plastics. +he polar plastics have a tendency to absorb moisture from the atmosphere and can often contain a significant amount of water at normal room temperature. /or these materials, the presence of the water generally raises the dielectric constant and lowers both the volume and surface resistivity. !aising the temperature of a polar plastic allows faster movement of the polymer chains and faster alignment of the dipoles. +his is particularly true if the temperature is
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raised above +Q because above +Q much more molecular movement is possible. !aising the temperature inevitably raises the dielectric constant of polar plastics. 4on-polar plastics, such as the fluoropolymers, are not as affected by the water because they tend not to absorb water and temperature effects are not generally as severe because increased temperature does not affect the electronic polari:ation.

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