ELSEVIER Journal of Electrostatics 32 (1994) 247-249

Journal of

ELECTROSTATICS

Meeting Report

1993 Annual Meeting of the Institute of Electrostatics Japan Chino, Japan, September 1-3, 1993

The 17th annual meeting of the institute of Electrostatics Japan (IEJ) was held from the 1st to the 3rd of September, 1993, on the campus of Suwa Junior College, which is affiliated with the Science University of Tokyo and is located in the city of Chino. Chino is in Nagano Prefecture, a well-known summer resort area about 200 kilo- meters from Tokyo.

Over the years, this conference has grown steadily to the point where it has become necessary to increase the duration of the conference and to schedule three parallel sessions. As an indication of this growth, 57 regular papers were presented at the 1980 meeting of the IEJ, while this year there were 104 regular papers and 2 invited talks. Despite the disadvantage that conference-goers can no longer attend all the sessions, the meetings continue to provoke lively discussion.

This year, the event was extended by a half day to accommodate an international session with ten papers presented in English. Approximately 250 scientists and engineers, coming from all over Japan plus a number of foreign countries, were in attendance. One of our invited speakers was Professor G.S. Peter Castle from the University of Western Ontario (Canada), who was in Japan on an exchange program during the period. The other invited paper was presented by Mr. S. Aizawa of Seiko Epson Corporation.

While it is rather difficult to categorize the papers by their subjects, a simple expedient is to classify them into three groups: fundamentals, applications, and hazards. Twelve papers were related to electrostatic hazards and the remainder were almost evenly divided between fundamentals and applications.

1. Fundamentals

Eight papers were devoted to investigations of the physical characteristics of polymers. Attendees learned about TSC and photoemission methods employed to study the characteristics of materials such as polyethylene, Nylon-6, PTFE, and PVA. In addition, investigations of very thin Langmuir-Blodgett films were reported.

To study the space charge distribution within plastic films, many different ap- proaches have been used, including the pulsed electroacoustic method, the Pockels

248 Meeting Report~Journal of Electrostatics 32 (1994) 247- 249

effect, and the laser-induced pressure pulse method. Though not as well-represented as in past years, electret films were the subject of several papers.

Another active area at the conference was discharge in air. A great diversity of topics was evident, including basic characteristics of conduction in air, mobility of ions, spectral distribution of discharge light, discharge from space charge clouds, discharge through narrow space between two insulators, and the extinction of glow discharge by sound waves.

Fundamental investigations in powder electrostatics included impact charging, deposition of fine powders on a wall, and particle transport in a corona field. One paper reported that ultrasound can affect the agglomeration of particles.

Some authors reported on electrification phenomena encountered in the semi- conductor industry when ultrapure water is used in the cleaning of Si wafers. In addition, a few fundamental papers were concerned with electrorheological (ER) fluids.

Papers related to electrostatic field computation included the calculation of the field around a dielectric particle near a conductor and application of the finite element method for a ceramic capacitor.

The dielectric characteristics of glass substrate materials used for liquid crystal displays (LCD) was the subject of one paper.

2. Applications

The topic of electrostatic precipitation was represented by papers on particle charging at high temperature and coagulation of particles by particle vibration and sound waves. Some rather fundamental studies were reported for particle charging, particle motions, and the measurement of charge in powders. Other applied papers concerned particle feeding by using AC electric fields, discharge characteristics en- countered in electrostatic flocking, and the separation of recyclable materials.

Most of the papers concerning application of electrostatics in liquids were related to electric field manipulation of biological molecules. At least eight papers dealt directly with this rapidly growing technology and a few additional contributions were at least indirectly related. Of particularly great interest is the manipulation of DNA molecules using very fine electrodes. Cell sorter devices were also a topic of interest. Despite the growing importance of electrorheological fluids, only two papers appeared at the conference. One presentation described an electrostatic sprayer for water-base paint.

Nine papers reported work on the topic of removal of NOx or other toxic gases from air. Most of these papers were concerned with the efficient removal of toxic gases by using a discharge plasma.

One paper reported experiments on the efficacy of ozone production in reduced atmospheric pressure and speculated on its possible application to restoration of the ozone hole in the stratosphere. Ozonized water has been found useful for sterilization, and so one paper dealt with the means to produce high concentrations of ozone in water. Another interesting application of discharge might be a portable weed killer.

Several papers were concerned with electrostatic motors. Most of these dealt with corona motor devices, though one paper described a dielectric motor which uses

Meeting Report/Journal of Electrostatics 32 (1994) 247-249 249

dielectric liquid. Reflecting recent developments in micromachining, four papers were presented on actuators which use electrostatic forces.

3. Hazards

Two fundamental papers were presented on the subject of ESD hazards in com- bustible liquids. Five others were concerned with the electrostatic charging of pow- ders. The explosion sensitivity of reactive powders to electrostatic discharges was discussed. Two papers described the charging of the human body: one concerned with charging rates and the other with discharges from the body. Other topics related to hazards included a study of the antistatic character of non-woven fabric and static charge eliminator devices.

Professor Kazutoshi Asano Department of Electrical and Information Science

Yamagata University Yonezawa, Japan