Maxwell-Wagner-Sillar interfacial

The interfacial or Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) polarization is characteristic of heterogeneous systems. It is due to the piling up of space charges near the interfaces between zones of different conductivities. 

Interfacial polarization in biphasic dielectrics was first described by Maxwell (same Maxwell as the Maxwell model) in his monograph Electricity and Magnetism of 1892.12 Somewhat later the effect was described by Wagner in terms of the polarization of a two-layer dielectric in a capacitor and showed that the polarization of isolated spheres was similar. Other more complex geometries (ellipsoids, rods) were considered by Sillars as a result, interfacial polarization is often called the Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) effect. 

Figure 17. Evidence of the Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars effect in the real permittivity of the composite system nematic E7 dispersed over hydroxypropylcellulose-type matrix. The interfacial polarization can be described by a double-layer arrangement. At lower frequencies and higher temperatures, the real permittivity increases further due to electrode polarization.

To study the effects of interaction of starch with silica, the broadband DRS method was applied to the starch/modified silica system at different hydration degrees. Several relaxations are observed for this system, and their temperature and frequency (i.e., relaxation time) depend on hydration of starch/silica (Figures 5.6 and 5.7). The relaxation at very low frequencies (/< 1 Hz) can be assigned to the Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) mechanism associated with interfacial polarization and space charge polarization (which leads to diminution of 1 in Havriliak-Negami equation) or the 5 relaxation, which can be faster because of the water effect (Figures 5.8 and 5.9). 

Interfacial polarization, sometimes referred to as Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) polarization, is a characteristic bulk phenomenon in polymer systems with a heterogeneous structure. This kind of polarization is due to the buildup of charged layers at the interface, resulting from unequal conduction currents... 

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