Effect of Calcium Carbonate Content on the Surface Voltage Generated by Rocks

Abstract

When two materials come into contact with one another, it is known that charges could be transferred from one surface to the other. This phenomenon is known as the triboelectric effect. The triboelectric series was developed in order to determine the likelihood of charge transfer when two materials come into contact with one another. This study aims to investigate the effect of calcium carbonate content in sedimentary rocks close to the city of Minia on the charge generated on the surface of the rock upon contact with another surface such as Kapton and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The two materials were selected because Kapton is close to the bottom of the series, while PMMA is close to the top.It was found that a higher calcium carbonate content in a rock made it more likely to obtain a negative charge, thus lowering its position in the triboelectric series. Some rocks which are low in calcium carbonate with a few calcium carbonate-rich pockets on their surface induce a low charge on the surface they touch under a high contact force, due to the easy-to-break calcium carbonate pockets depositing calcium carbonate particles with an opposite charge on the other surface.