Scientists Discover Contact History Drives Static Electricity Behavior

New research reveals that repeated contact between materials determines their charge exchange, resolving centuries of unpredictability.

Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) found that a material's contact history governs its static electricity behavior.
The study explains why experiments on static electricity, particularly with insulators, have long appeared random and inconsistent.
Repeated contact between identical materials, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), led to predictable charge exchange after approximately 200 interactions.
The team demonstrated that a triboelectric series, which orders materials by charge tendency, can be intentionally designed by controlling contact frequency and sequence.
Microscopic smoothing of surface roughness during repeated contact is the only detectable change, hinting at a potential link to charge transfer mechanisms.