An electrification mechanism of sand grains based on the diffuse double layer and Hertz contact theory

The electrification of sand grains lifting off from sand bed is investigated experimentally. It was found that sand grains were able to carry charges, which is comparable in magnitude with the experimental results and is related to grain sizes, pH of soil, relative humidity, and electric field. Based on the theory of diffuse double layer (DDL) and Hertz contact theory, an electrification mechanism due to the break of DDLs of sand grains is presented and a formula which takes environmental conditions and grain parameters into consideration is obtained to calculate the charge-mass ratio of lift-off sand grains.