Single-collision statistics reveal a global mechanism driven by sample history for contact electrification in granular media

Models for same-material contact electrification in granular media often rely on a local charge-driving parameter whose spatial variations lead to a stochastic origin for charge exchange. Measuring the charge transfer from individual granular spheres after contacts with substrates of the same material, we find instead a “global” charging behavior, coherent over the sample’s whole surface. Cleaning and baking samples fully resets charging magnitude and direction, which indicates the underlying global parameter is not intrinsic to the material, but acquired from its history. Charging behavior is randomly and irreversibly affected by changes in relative humidity, hinting at a mechanism where adsorbates, in particular, water, are fundamental to the charge-transfer process.