Lecture
Van Marum Mini-Symposium: Repel or Attract? Switchable Stickiness Through Electric Fields
- Date
- Thursday 2 July 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- CE.0.18
Abstract
When two surfaces slide against each other, they often become electrically charged. While this phenomenon has been known for centuries, the role of the resulting electric fields in adhesion and friction remains surprisingly poorly understood. In this talk, I will show how electric fields can fundamentally alter the behavior of sliding interfaces, from single nanoscale contacts to rough macroscopic surfaces.
Using silicon and glass as model systems, we find that even relatively weak electric fields can modify interfacial water layers and thereby change adhesion long after the field has been removed. Stronger fields, whether externally applied or generated by tribocharging during sliding, can directly create substantial electrostatic attraction between surfaces, leading to large changes in friction. These effects are amplified by surface roughness, contact geometry, and charge transport within the materials. Together, the results suggest a unifying picture in which electric fields constitute an important but often hidden interaction in tribology. Understanding and controlling these fields opens new opportunities to tune adhesion, friction, and wear in technological and natural interfaces.
- Çiftçi et al. Tribol. Lett. 2026
- Peng et al. arXiv 2025
- Peng et al. arXiv 2026