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What does ESD stand for and what is the difference between ESD and Conductive materials?

Most plastics are electric insulators and tend to accumulate static electric charges. This can cause damage to electronic components and assemblies.

ESD materials are produced by filling a plastic with a conductive material such as carbon black. This allows the static to dissipate, preventing static build-up.

Electrostatic Dissipative Material (ESD) is a material that has a surface resistivity between that of a conductor and an insulator, usually defined as between about 106 and 1012 O quadrature

Conductor is a material that has a surface resistivity less than about 105 O quadrature
Insulator is a material that has a surface resistivity greater than about 1013 O quadrature

Resistivity, the inverse of electrical conductivity, is a measure of the resistance to the flow of an electric current and is measured either as a surface or a volume phenomenon. Surface resistivity is expressed in ohms per square (O quadrature.) and is measured at the surface of a material, usually at room temperature. Information detailing methods for quantifying surface resistivity is given in ASTM D257 and EOS/ESD S11.11.

Here is a list of our ESD and Conductive products.

Title: What does ESD stand for and what is the difference between ESD and Conductive materials?
Description: Definition of ESD and Conductive Material
Published: 9/17/2009
Last Edited: 1/23/2023

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