Static electricity often just seems like an everyday annoyance when a wool sweater crackles as you pull it off, or when a doorknob delivers an unexpected zap. Regardless, the phenomenon is much mor… ...

Static electricity occurs when two materials rub against each other, generating a charge transfer. This effect, known as triboelectricity, happens when tiny imperfections on the materials ...

The first documentation of static electricity dates back to 600 BCE. Even after 2,600 years’ worth of tiny shocks, however, researchers couldn’t fully explain how rubbing two objects together ...

Scientists have finally figured out the core mechanism behind static electricity. First discovered in 600 B.C., the ...

The work could be a step toward understanding the effects behind the phenomenon of static electricity, in which electric charge accumulates on materials after they are rubbed or touched together.

Tao and Gibert currently study the mechanisms behind triboelectric devices, which convert mechanical energy into electricity by rubbing two surfaces together. The surfaces can be either conductors or ...