Electrostatic discharge materials

Electrostatic discharge materials (ESD materials) are plastics that reduce static electricity to protect against damage to electrostatic-sensitive devices (ESD) or to prevent the accidental ignition of flammable liquids or gases.

Materials
ESD materials are generally subdivided into categories with related properties: Anti-Static, Conductive, and Dissipative.

Note that the sheet resistance quoted above depends on the thickness of the layer of material, and the value is the resistance of a square of the material for a current flowing from one edge to the opposite edge.

Conductive
Conductive materials have a low electrical resistance, thus electrons flow easily across the surface or through these materials. Charges go to ground or to another conductive object that the material contacts.

Dissipative
Dissipative materials allow the charges to flow to ground more slowly in a more controlled manner than with conductive materials.

Anti-Static
Anti-static materials are generally referred to as any material which inhibits triboelectric charging. This kind of charging is the buildup of an electric charge by the rubbing or contact with another material.

Insulative
Insulative materials prevent or limit the flow of electrons across their surface or through their volume. Insulative materials have a high electrical resistance and are difficult to ground, thus are not ESD materials. Static charges remain in place on these materials for a very long time.