{"id":1542,"date":"2026-08-28T05:53:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-08-28-charged-water-drops-corrosion-en\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:53:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T20:53:00","slug":"2026-08-28-charged-water-drops-corrosion-en","status":"publish","type":"briefing","link":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/briefing\/2026-08-28-charged-water-drops-corrosion-en\/","title":{"rendered":"When water droplets slide across the surface and become electrically charged, they even corrode the metal under the protective film."},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-08-28 05:53 KST<\/strong><\/p>\n

Droplets of water that slide across insulating surfaces such as plant leaves or plastic or glass acquire a small electric charge, and in experiments, this electric field pierces the protective coating and corrodes the metal underneath. After 3,000 electrically charged water droplets landed on thin Teflon-coated copper, hole-shaped damage was created, but a control group of electrically neutral water droplets did not show the same damage.<\/p>\n

Just a few rains doesn’t mean your car or building will rust right away. This is the result of repeated testing of 35 microliter water droplets and experimental coatings ranging in thickness from nanometers to micrometers, and the extent to which this process contributes to corrosion in real outdoor structures has not yet been measured.<\/p>\n

How do water droplets obtain electricity?<\/h2>\n

When a water droplet moves over an insulating surface, its charges are transferred during contact and separation. In this experiment, a water droplet sliding 4 cm across a leaf, PVC foam board, polystyrene glass, and water-repellent treated quartz acquired a charge of 0.2 to 2 nanocoulombs. Potentials can be very high depending on conditions.<\/p>\n

How was the coating damaged?<\/h2>\n

As the electrically charged water droplet approached the coated metal, the bottom stretched out like a cone. The researchers interpreted that a strong electric field locally destroys the insulating coating and creates small holes. As water reached the metal through this gap, corrosion of the copper or gold surface below began.<\/p>\n

\"When
This AI-generated image explains the topic; it is not a photograph of the actual event, observation, or experiment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What did the controlled experiment show?<\/h2>\n

Thirty-five microliter drops of mild salt water were added at 12-second intervals. 3000 neutral water droplets fell directly on the 60 nanometer Teflon coating and did not cause any noticeable damage. Drops that gained charge by sliding across the insulating surface the same number of times first created damage under all four surface conditions.<\/p>\n

How far can you generalize?<\/h2>\n

The researchers saw similar phenomena in Teflon and polystyrene coatings, silicon oxide layers, and copper and gold substrates. However, actual car paint, ships, and buildings have thicker coatings and are subject to pollution, sunlight, salt, and friction. The experiment was to find a possible new route, not a test to directly calculate outdoor lifespan.<\/p>\n

What can I change next time?<\/h2>\n

Follow-up research should test surfaces that reduce droplet charge, coatings that resist electrical breakdown, and real-world rainwater and seawater conditions. By re-analyzing existing damage to cultural assets, vehicles and ships, traces of this electrical path can be distinguished. The key is the discovery that, in addition to acid and friction, electrical charges can also cause shield failure.<\/p>\n

Primary sources and independent checks<\/h2>\n

Nature original paper<\/a><\/p>\n

Max Planck Institute official release<\/a><\/p>\n

Scientific American independent report<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Nature experiment, water droplets that slid across an insulating surface acquired a charge of 0.2 to 2 nanocoulombs. After 3,000 drops, hole-shaped damage occurred in the thin coating and underlying metal, but the neutral water droplet control group had no damage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"class_list":["post-1542","briefing","type-briefing","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing\/1542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/briefing"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/briefing"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onepress.co.kr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}