Study on the negative oxygen ion release behavior and mechanism of tourmaline composites

Negative air ions are becoming increasingly popular as they purify the air by adsorbing dust and hazardous substances, which are beneficial to people's health. The ternary composites of tourmaline and monazite with graphene, germanium, cerium oxide, lanthanum oxide, and titanium oxide were prepared by the ball milling process, and the release of negative oxygen ions was investigated. The enhanced mechanism of tourmaline is analyzed systematically by hysteresis loop with monazite and other substances. The results indicate that monazite relies on its thorium element to generate radioactive energy to excite negative ions. It was discovered that the T/10%M/15%CeO2 composites exhibited the optimum negative ion release performance of 6580 ions/cm3, which is approximately 5–6 times compared to tourmaline. The results of conductivity and hysteresis loop tests demonstrate that tourmaline stimulates negative oxygen ions due to its spontaneous polarization effect and the formation of a polarized electric field. The spontaneous polarization effect of tourmaline is positively correlated with the release amount of negative oxygen ions.