Electrostatic properties and characterization of two-layer paper sheets

Abstract The aim of the research is to determine the electrostatic properties of two-layer paper sheets composed of laboratory filter paper and polyethylene. The volume resistivity and conductivity in a filter paper sheet, polyethylene film and a two-layer sheet consisting of them were studied. The experiment was done using two techniques. The investigated samples were exposed to static electric field and the surface and volume conductivity were measured in accordance with ASTM D257 standard. The same samples were also exposed to positive and negative air ion flux that allows a periodical deposition of a dosed amount of charge in order to measure electrostatic properties of the samples, i.e. to measure maximum surface voltage, sheet capacitance, surface voltage decay half time, volume resistivity, et cetera. A study of a two-layer sample consisting of laboratory filter paper and polyethylene film superimposed on the conductive surface in one position when the polyethylene film is on top and in other when the sample is in turned over position shows that the electrostatic properties of the top layer become dominant. The obtained results appear to be useful for more precise understanding of the phenomena occurring in multilayer sheets and to find a way to improve the multilayer sheets features.