Van de Graaff generator
Other electrostatic machines like the Wimshurst machine or Bonetti machine work similarly to the Van De Graaff; charge is transported by moving plates, disks, or cylinders to a high voltage electrode. For these generators, however, corona discharge from exposed metal parts at high potentials and poorer insulation result in smaller voltages. In an electrostatic generator, the rate of charge transported (current) to the high-voltage electrode is very small. After the machine is started, the voltage on the terminal electrode increases until the leakage current from the electrode equals the rate of charge transport. Therefore, leakage from the terminal determines the maximum voltage attainable. In the Van de Graaff generator, the belt allows the transport of charge into the interior of a large hollow spherical electrode. This is the ideal shape to minimize leakage and corona discharge, so the Van de Graaff generator can produce the greatest voltage. This is why the Van de Graaff design has been used for all electrostatic particle accelerators. In general, the larger the diameter and the smoother the sphere is, the higher the voltage that can be achieved.
Electrorheological fluid
There are two main theories to explain the effect: the interfacial tension or 'water bridge' theory, and the electrostatic theory. The water bridge theory assumes a three phase system, the particles contain the third phase which is another liquid (e.g. water) immiscible with the main phase liquid (e.g. oil). With no applied electric field the third phase is strongly attracted to and held within the particles. This means the ER fluid is a suspension of particles, which behaves as a liquid. When an electric field is applied the third phase is driven to one side of the particles by electro osmosis and binds adjacent particles together to form chains. This chain structure means the ER fluid has become a solid. The electrostatic theory assumes just a two phase system, with dielectric particles forming chains aligned with an electric field in an analogous way to how magnetorheological fluid (MR) fluids work. An ER fluid has been constructed with the solid phase made from a conductor coated in an insulator. This ER fluid clearly cannot work by the water bridge model. However, although demonstrating that some ER fluids work by the electrostatic effect, it does not prove that all ER fluids do so. The advantage of having an ER fluid which operates on the electrostatic effect is the elimination of leakage current, i.e. potentially there is no direct current. Of course, since ER devices behave electrically as capacitors, and the main advantage of the ER effect is the speed of response, an alternating current is to be expected.