Static electricity depends on materials' contact history

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: ISTA scientist and first author Juan Carlos Sobarzo shows a sample made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Credit: ISTA For centuries, static electricity has been the subject of intrigue and scientific investigation. Now, researchers from the Waitukaitis group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have uncovered a vital clue to this enduring mystery: the contact history of materials controls how they exchange charge. The findings, published in Nature, explain the prevailing unpredictability of contact electrification, unveiling order from what has long been considered chaos. From a tiny electric jolt when touching a doorknob to styrofoam peanuts that cling to a mischievous cat's fur—the well-known and seemingly simple phenomenon of static electricity has puzzled people since antiquity. H ... Read full article.