Gerald W. Crum

Charging of Polar Versus Nonpolar Liquids During Brief Exposure to Ionic Currents

Experimental results are reported which show the amount of corona charging of polar and nonpolar liquid droplets during brief exposure to ionic currents. They show that the nonpolar materials tested acquired from 10 to 36 percent less charge than equivalent water droplets and that the polar materials acquired from 1 to 15 percent more charge than the water. These differences are not predicted by the Pauthenier theory. The reason for the differences is believed to be due to the relaxation time of the materials and the effect it has on the rate at which the ionic particles may distribute themselves over the surface of the droplet. In particular, the nonpolar materials being highly resistive have long relaxation times and thus acquire fewer charges than the polar materials.