Percolation dielectric relaxation

In the temperature interval of —70 to 0°C and in the low-frequency range, an unexpected dielectric relaxation process for polymers is detected. This process is observed clearly in the sample PPX with metal Cu nanoparticles. In sample PPX + Zn only traces of this process can be observed, and in the PPX + PbS as well as in pure PPX matrix the process completely vanishes. The amplitude of this process essentially decreases, when the frequency increases, and the maximum of dielectric losses have almost no temperature dependence [104]. This is a typical dielectric response for percolation behavior [105]. This process may relate to electron transfer between the metal nanoparticles through the polymer matrix. Data on electrical conductivity of metal containing PPX films (see above) show that at metal concentrations higher than 5 vol.% there is an essential probability for electron transfer from one particle to another and thus such particles become involved in the percolation process. The minor appearance of this peak in PPX + Zn can be explained by oxidation of Zn nanoparticles. 

Based on conceptions of work [105] the specific dielectric relaxation in PPX with M nanoparticles is supposed to be connected with reorientation of dipoles in polymer environment of M nanoparticles that accompanies the electron transfer between M nanoparticles of percolation cluster. Dipole centers in PPX are (Tv-units of polymer chains on a surface of lamellar PPX crystallites. Such centers are characteristic, in particular, for extended polymer defects (dislocations, grain boundaries, interfaces between amorphous and crystalline areas) where, most probably, M nanoparticles are formed. 

The considered model of a straight line of M nanoparticles illustrates only general features of dielectric losses caused by an M nanoparticle cluster in polymer matrix. Actually such cluster is a complex fractal system. Analysis of dielectric relaxation parameters of this process allowed the determination of fractal properties of the percolation cluster [104], The dielectric response for this process in the time domain can be described by the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts (KWW) expression... 

The dielectric relaxation properties in a sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuc-cinate (AOT)-water-decane microemulsion near the percolation temperature threshold have been investigated in a broad temperature region [47,143,147]. The dielectric measurements of ionic microemulsions were carried out using the TDS in a time window with a total time interval of 1 ps. It was found that the system exhibits a complex nonexponential relaxation behavior that is strongly temperature-dependent (Figure 8). 

The third relaxation process is located in the low-frequency region and the temperature interval 50°C to 100°C. The amplitude of this process essentially decreases when the frequency increases, and the maximum of the dielectric permittivity versus temperature has almost no temperature dependence (Fig 15). Finally, the low-frequency ac-conductivity ct demonstrates an S-shape dependency with increasing temperature (Fig. 16), which is typical of percolation [2,143,154]. Note in this regard that at the lowest-frequency limit of the covered frequency band the ac-conductivity can be associated with dc-conductivity cio usually measured at a fixed frequency by traditional conductometry. The dielectric relaxation process here is due to percolation of the apparent dipole moment excitation within the developed fractal structure of the connected pores [153,154,156]. This excitation is associated with the selfdiffusion of the charge carriers in the porous net. Note that as distinct from dynamic percolation in ionic microemulsions, the percolation in porous glasses appears via the transport of the excitation through the geometrical static fractal structure of the porous medium. 

The dielectric relaxation at percolation was analyzed in the time domain since the theoretical relaxation model described above is formulated for the dipole correlation function T(f). For this purpose the complex dielectric permittivity data were expressed in terms of the DCF using (14) and (25). Figure 28 shows typical examples of the DCF, obtained from the frequency dependence of the complex permittivity at the percolation temperature, corresponding to several porous glasses studied recently [153-156]. 

Analysis of dielectric relaxation parameters of this process allowed us to determine the fractal properties of the percolation cluster [70]. The dielectric response for this process in the time domain can be described by the... 

Analysis of the Dielectric Relaxation Behavior Far Below Percolation... 

Y. Feldman, N. Kozlovich, I. Nir, and N. Garti 1995 Dielectric relaxation in sodium bis 2(ethyl hexyl) sulfosuccinate-water-decane microemulsions near the percolation temperature threshold, Phys. Rev. E 51, 478-491. 

Peyrelasse, J. and Boned, C. 1990 Conductivity, dielectric relaxation, and viscosity of ternary microemulsions The role of the experimental path and the point of view of percolation theory, Phys. Rev. A 41 938-953. 

Thus, the non-Debye dielectric behavior in silica glasses and PS is similar. These systems exhibit an intermediate temperature percolation process associated with the transfer of the electric excitations through the random structures of fractal paths. It was shown that at the mesoscale range the fractal dimension of the complex material morphology (Dr for porous glasses and porous silicon) coincides with the fractal dimension Dp of the path structure. This value can be obtained by fitting the experimental DCF to the stretched-exponential relaxation law (64). 

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