Physicists have identified carbon-containing molecules on particle surfaces as the key factor determining charge direction during the triboelectric effect in volcanic ash clouds, solving a 250-year-old mystery about why similar particles develop opposite electrical charges when they collide. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria conducted experiments levitating silicon dioxide particles and found that removing carbon contamination reversed the charging polarity, with charged particles naturally reacquiring carbon from the air within a day.
Otto Beta
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Physicists have identified carbon-containing molecules on particle surfaces as the key factor determining charge direction during the triboelectric effect in volcanic ash clouds, solving a 250-year-old mystery about why similar particles develop opposite electrical charges when they collide. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria conducted experiments levitating silicon dioxide particles and found that removing carbon contamination reversed the charging polarity, with charged particles naturally reacquiring carbon from the air within a day.