Sliding electrification of Teflon by metals

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Abstract
The electrification of a system consisting of a metal and Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) has been investigated in vacuum under relative motion. A plane strip of Teflon was moved in relation to a metal electrode connected to an electrometer, which permitted the electrification charge to be continuously recorded. The electrification current was found to be closely proportional to the velocity, and it was practically independent of the radius of curvature of the tip of the electrode. The normal force was also varied, and the linear charge was found to be proportional to the square root of this force. Electrodes of Al, Au, Cu, Dural, Mg, Ni, and Pt were used, and the charge deposited was found to be linearly dependent on the metal work function, except for a large anomaly in the case of Cu. For a given metal the charge was shown to be closely proportional to the area swept out by the electrode on the insulator surface. The linear dependence of charge on metal work function and the short charging time (0.06 s) observed indicate that electrons from the metal fill empty surface states in the insulator up to a level corresponding to the Fermi level of the metal. The surface‐state density of Teflon was found to be 7×1010 eV−1 cm−2.

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