Antistatic Agents

Abstract

Electrification is the process of producing an electric charge on an object. Static is a surface phenomenon. Objects are thought of as developing static charges either by tribocharging or by induction. Mutual repulsion of fibers having similar charges can cause difficulties in many textile processing procedures.Static charges can be reduced by either reducing the rate of generation or by increasing the rate of dissipation.Antistatic agents operate by increasing the rate of charge dissipation. Antistatic agents must not affect subsequent processing of a material, impair the hand, or affect color, odor and appearance. Antistatic agents are applied to textiles by padding, exhausting, spraying and coating. Antistatic agents include ethoyxlated amines and sulfonates, glycerol monostearate, and fatty alcohols. Antistatics are also important in plastics Dust particles accumulate on plastic and packaging materials making them less attractive for selling. Some charges can cause explosions. This article focuses on the use of antistatics in plastics and textiles.