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DTSTAMP:20260406T074829Z
UID:1715936400@ist.ac.at
DTSTART:20240517T110000
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DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Scott Waitukaitis\nhosted by Jeremie Palacci\nAbstract
 : "Static electricity" is ubiquitous. Commonly associated with everyday th
 ings like balloons rubbed on hair or shocks from doorknobs\, it neverthel
 ess plays a central role in a wide array of natural phenomenon\, from lig
 htning to pollination to planet formation. The name "static electricity" i
 s a misnomer. For two neutral objects to acquire static electricity\, c
 harged species must move between them during contact or rubbing. Yet de
 spite centuries of study we have no idea what charged species are transfe
 rred (electrons vs. ions)\, let alone why. The main reason for our ig
 norance is that experiments to probe static electricity are plagued by unp
 redictability. Whatever mechanism(s) lay behind it\, they are so sensitive
  and subtle that repeated experiments even in the same lab often don't 
 reproduce the same result. Our group is trying a new approach\, which is 
 to focus on the charge exchange between "identical" materials. Though co
 unterintuitive\, this has long been known to occur\, despite any obvious s
 ymmetry breaking. I will discuss two such 'same-material' experiments 
 that are helping us resolve the mysteries of static electricity. In the f
 irst\, we use acoustic levitation to study the charging of an SiO2 spher
 e colliding against an SiO2 plate. We find that the atmospheric and ther
 mal history of a sample causes it to charge with a defined sign\, pointi
 ng to surface adsorbates and adsorption hysteresis as the symmetry breakin
 g parameter. In the second\, we study charge exchange between samples o
 f a soft polymer\, PDMS. Here\, we are led to the surprising conclusion
  that contact itself breaks symmetry\, causing initially samples to se
 lf-organize into "triboelectric series." Our results shed new light on why
  the cause of static electricity is so frustratingly unpredictable\, and 
 in doing so give hope that rhyme and reason are within reach. 
LOCATION:Raiffeisen Lecture Hall\, ISTA
ORGANIZER:Maria.Arias.Sutil@ist.ac.at
SUMMARY:Scott Waitukaitis: A tale of two rabbits: how identical materials a
 re helping us unlock the secrets of "static electricity"
URL:https://talks-calendar.ista.ac.at/events/4608
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