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Abstract

The increased use of polymeric materials in hospital floorings raised the issue of electrostatic charges and its implications. Electrostatic charges generated from friction of engineering materials show a negative effect on their applications particularly in health related issues. Electrostatic charges accumulating on human skin are dangerous and cause serious health problems. The present work investigates the electrostatic generated charge from dry and wet rubbing of disposable- Anti-Skid polypropylene shoe covers “Non Slip Medical”, and rubber against polymeric flooring materials. Decreasing normal load in dry rubbing of polypropylene against epoxy floor decreased measured friction. Friction values at light loads maintained good adhesion of the sliding objects against floor µ = 0.5. It was enough for safe use at dry rubbing condition. Sliding of hospital foot wear on dry floor generated higher electrostatic charge. Wet rubbing, however, generated charge values higher than these measured for repeated alternate contact and separation. Water wetted contacts resulted in lower values of friction and electrostatic charge relative to those obtained in dry contact situations. Water molecules in wet contacts facilitated the conduction of generated electrostatic charges at the contact interfaces, thereby resulted in lower measurements for wet contacts. Accordingly it was recommended to look for new materials and coatings maintaining values µ = 0.5 to prevent slip and fall, with lower electrostatic charges.