Triboelectric charges on textile fabrics are thought to dissipate mainly by conduction by means of free electron diffusion. Charges on the surface of fabrics disappear by other processes, however, such as neutralization with counter ions and scattering into the air. In this study, water molecules on the textile surface play an important role in the charge scattering into air, i.e., electric charge carried away by water molecules when they evaporate. Two kinds of water molecules exist on the textile surface—one not related to charge dissipation and one carrying the electronic charge away from the fabric surface.Triboelectricity, the static electricity generated on dielectric substances has long been a subject of interest. With the increasing use of polymers and synthetic fibers, many problems and accidents are caused by static electricity.The mechanism of charge separation between two different materials can be clearly explained in the case of metals using their work functions. In the cast of polymeric materials, however, the mechanism is not clearly understood because of complex surface structures, e.g., chemical structure and chain orientation [ 1,7 ] . Also in the case of metals, the generated charges dissipate so rapidly that they are difficult to measure. On a dielectric surface, however, the generated charges remain for a fairly long time as static charges, which lead to bothersome and even hazardous problems.The generation, accumulation, and polarity of static charges produced by rubbing have been studied intensively, with many reports on the triboelectric series [ 2,5,6 ] . Based on these experimental results and considerations, new conductive fibers such as &dquo;epitropic&dquo; fibers [3] ] and many kinds of antistatic fibers have been produced, but the mechanism of generating triboelectric charges remains to be clarified.The dissipation of generated charges has been treated as a rather simple phenomenon, i. e., the charges scatter mainly by conduction [ 12 ] . The decay function for charge dissipation is often observed to be exponential with time. Hence, static dissipation has been estimated by the time required for the chatge to fall to half its original value. The half life of the electrostatic charge is known to depend strongly on fabric surface conditions [ 11 ] . The moisture contents of both ambient air and fabric play important roles in conducting the static charges generated. But dissipation by conduction is not the only mechanism involved in the decay of surface charges. These charges penetrate into the bulk of the fabric and also scatter into the air. In this paper, we . measure the dissipation of electrostatic charges into the air. ExperimentalWhite plain woven fabrics of many kinds, purchases from Kansai Iseikatsu Kenkyu-kai ( Osaka, Japan), were used after eliminating the finishing reagents through water washing with detergent. The sampks were dried with care to prevent structural heterogeneity and to obtain homogeneous, uncreased sampla. Theae sample cloths were cut into strips 7.5 c...

Triboelectric charges on textiles dissipate through a charge conduction mechanism and also by accompanying water molecules evaporating into air. The latter dissipation is less extensive than the former, but can be measured quantitatively under highly insulated experimental conditions. Rate constants of charge dissipation into the air at 20°C have been reported as a function of the ambient humidity and water content of fabrics. In this study, the rate constants are analyzed at temperatures above or below 20°C. Two kinds of water molecules, free and bound, are known to be present in the textile surface from charge dissipation analysis. Though free water is involved in atmospheric charge dissipation, the condition of water molecules in the fibers cannot be classified so simply. Rate constants of charge dissipation depend on the ambient absolute humidity and water content of sample fabrics for all the temperatures of these experiments.