Some experiments about the triboelectric performances of composite textiles [ESD protective garments]

ESD protective garment performance depends also on the characteristics of the composite textiles they are made of (grids and squares, type of conductive threads, fabric, etc). A tribocharging automated system has been rigged to perform charge retention tests on samples of such composites. Special testing procedures, based on a suitable definition of surface voltage (or tribocharge), have been devised and implemented to investigate the charge release capability of three different textiles. The discharge process, represented by the SV(t) plots measured via a non-contact probe system, has been experimentally studied via a 3 synthetic parameters approach. The analysis of the tests output allowed us to focus the role of the square dimensions, of the r.h. (relative humidity) factor and of the type of conductive threads.