Electrically Charged Raindrops Can Corrode Cars and Buildings
Researchers have found that tiny electrical charges picked up by moving water droplets may be damaging cars and buildings like the Eiffel Tower. In experiments, thousands of charged droplets degraded Teflon and corroded the copper beneath it, while uncharged droplets caused no comparable damage. C&EN reports: For years, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research have studied how…
Tiny electrical charges picked up by raindrops may be causing damage to cars and buildings like the Eiffel Tower, researchers have discovered. According to experiments conducted at Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, charged droplets degrade Teflon and corrode copper beneath it, while uncharged droplets cause no noticeable harm.
This phenomenon, known as contact or sliding electrification, is similar to the static electricity we experience when we rub certain objects together. Ni, a PhD student at Max Planck, explains that water drops spontaneously become electrically charged when moving over various surfaces, such as plant leaves, insect wings, building walls, and plastic.
The researchers discovered that after thousands of electrically charged water drops fell on a copper surface, it showed signs of degradation, while uncharged drops did not. The impact of the charged drops was significant, as the copper sheets appeared scratched and corroded, similar to scraped-up skin. The study suggests that the electrical state of a water droplet, not just its chemical composition or mechanical impact, can influence corrosion, potentially leading to new protective coatings and materials for environments with charged water droplets.
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