A charging device comprises first and second electrodes forming a charging zone. A plurality of nanostructures adhere to at least one of the first and second electrodes. A charging voltage supply couples to the electrodes to support the formation of gaseous ions in the charging zone. An aperture electrode or grid proximate to the first and second electrodes is coupled to a grid control voltage supply which grid control voltage supply, in turn, controls a flow of gaseous ions from the charging zone to thereby charge a proximately-located receptor. In one embodiment, the charging voltage supply is arranged to provide a pulsed-voltage waveform. In one variation of this embodiment, the pulsed-voltage waveform comprises a pulsed-DC waveform. In another embodiment, the charging voltage supply is arranged to provide an alternating-current waveform. In one embodiment, the charging device itself is comprised in an image forming device.