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Protoplanetary disk are the foundation of planet formation. Lightning canhave a profound impact on the chemistry of planetary atmospheres. The emergenceof lightning in a similar manner in protoplanetary disks, would substantiallyalter the chemistry of protoplanetary disks. We aim to study under whichconditions lightning could emerge within protoplanetary disks. We employ theProDiMo code to make 2D thermo-chemical models of protoplanetary disks. Weincluded a new way of how the code handles dust grains, which allows theconsideration of dust grains of different sizes. We investigate the chemicalcomposition, dust charging behaviour and charge balance of these models, todetermine which regions could be most sufficient for lightning. We identify 6regions within the disks where the charge balance is dominated by differentradiation processes and find that the emergence of lightning is most probablein the lower and warmer regions of the midplane. This is due to the lowelectron abundance ($n_{\rm e}/n_{\rm\langle H \rangle}<10^{-15}$) in theseregions and dust grains being the most abundant negative charge carriers ($n_{\rm Z}/n_{\rm\langle H \rangle}> 10^{-13}$). We find that $\rm NH4^+$ is themost abundant positive charge carrier in those regions at the same abundancesas the dust grains. We then develop a method of inducing electric fields viaturbulence within this mix of dust grains and $\rm NH_4^+$. The electric fieldsgenerated with this mechanism are however several orders of magnitude weakerthan required to overcome the critical electric field.

Size-dependent charging of dust particles in protoplanetary disks Can turbulence cause charge separation and lightning?