Abstract
Replica molding-based triboelectrification has emerged as a new and facile technique to generate nanopatterned tribocharge on elastomer surfaces. The “mechano-triboelectric charging model” has been developed to explain the mechanism of the charge formation and patterning process. However, this model has not been validated to cover the full variety of nanotexture shapes. Moreover, the experimental estimation of the tribocharge’s surface density is still challenging due to the thick and insulating nature of the elastomeric substrate. In this work, we perform experiments in combination with numerical analysis to complete the mechano-triboelectrification charging model. By utilizing Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and finite element analysis, we reveal that the mechano-triboelectric charging model works for replica molding of both recessed and protruding nanotextures. In addition, by combining KPFM with numerical electrostatic modeling, we improve the accuracy of the surface charge density estimation and cross-calibrate the result against that of electrostatic force microscopy. Overall, the regions which underwent strong interfacial friction during the replica molding exhibited high surface potential and charge density, while those suffering from weak interfacial friction exhibited low values on both. These multi-physical approaches provide useful and important tools for comprehensive analysis of triboelectrification and generation of nanopatterned tribocharge. The results will widen our fundamental understanding of nanoscale triboelectricity and advance the nanopatterned charge generation process for future applications.
Highlights
There has been an increasing level of interest in generating electric charges in a nanoscale patterned format for applications such as nano-xerography [1,2] and ultra-highdensity data storage [3,4]
The thickness of the PDMS substrate often reaches hundreds of microns, separating the surface charge and the electrical ground point by the same distance. It can greatly obscure the relation between the surface potential measured by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and the true characteristics of the surface charge, such as its density, and harms the validity of the mechano-triboelectric charging model
We found that the relation between the surface topography and the surface potential level, which must be proportional to the surface charge density, agreed well with the basic mechanics of the peel-off action, qualitatively
Summary
There has been an increasing level of interest in generating electric charges in a nanoscale patterned format for applications such as nano-xerography [1,2] and ultra-highdensity data storage [3,4]. The mechano-triboelectric charging model exhibited two deficiencies It has been tested only with master molds with protruding nanotextures, such as the PC and PET nanodome arrays used in [10,12]. The thickness of the PDMS substrate (ts in Figure 1d) often reaches hundreds of microns, separating the surface charge and the electrical ground point by the same distance It can greatly obscure the relation between the surface potential measured by KPFM and the true characteristics of the surface charge, such as its density, and harms the validity of the mechano-triboelectric charging model. We anticipate the results will widen our understanding of nanoscale triboelectricity and advance the technology of nanopatterned charge generation
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