Phenomenon · phenomenon:droplet-charge-transfer

Droplet contact electrification

A water droplet contacting and spreading on a charged polymer surface closes a transient circuit through the droplet, releasing the surface charge as a current pulse.

Surfaces and interfacesfirst reported 2014also: droplet-based electricity generation, solid–liquid triboelectrification, rain, raindrop electricity

Atlas record: 5 claims reference this phenomenon — 3 demonstrated and 2 replicated.

Explorerelations · matrix context · routes · sources · cite

conditions: liquid

5claims2enumerated routes1routes with complete-composition evidence1candidate routes not searched2cited sources

Relations

drives · 2

Surface energy difference—drives→Droplet contact electrificationreplicated

water droplets impacting a pre-charged PTFE surface bridging to an electrode

Gravitational potential difference—drives→Droplet contact electrificationdemonstrated

falling droplets (rain) supplying the impact and spreading

produces · 1

Droplet contact electrification—produces→Separated surface chargereplicated

member of · 1

Droplet contact electrification—member of→Triboelectricdemonstrated

implemented by · 1

Droplet contact electrification—implemented by→Droplet-based electricity generatordemonstrated

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.15 × C.12 · Surface energy difference × Triboelectric · Established D.19 × C.12 · Gravitational potential difference × Triboelectric · Demonstrated

family: Triboelectric (C.12)

Enumerated routes through this · 2

Droplet-based electricity generator2/3 est · demonstrated
Surface energy difference → Droplet contact electrification → Separated surface charge → Electrical work3/3 est · candidate

Cited sources · 2

[1]
W. Xu, et al.. A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density (2020)
Nature 578, 392–396 · doi:10.1038/s41586-020-1985-6 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
[2]
J. Yin, et al.. Generating electricity by moving a droplet of ionic liquid along graphene (2014)
Nature Nanotechnology 9, 378–383 · doi:10.1038/nnano.2014.56 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Cite this entity

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). entity phenomenon:droplet-charge-transfer: Droplet contact electrification. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/phenomenon/droplet-charge-transfer

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