Investigation of MWS Relaxation in Nylon 1010 using Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy

Maxwell–Wagner–Sillars (MWS) relaxation in nylon 1010, arising from charge carriers accumulated at the interphase between amorphous and crystalline regions, has been investigated by means of dielectric relaxation spectra. In the frequency spectra of nylon 1010, dielectric permittivity showed high values at low frequencies originating from charge carrier movement. For the MWS relaxation, the dielectric strength was independent of temperature. The results revealed that there is a transition temperature, located between 110 and 120°C, resulting in the separation of two different charge carrier movement mechanisms. Below and above this transition temperature, the temperature dependence of the MWS relaxation time follows the Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher type, showing that the charge carrier transport is governed by the motion of the polymer chains. The change of charge carrier movement mechanisms is due to the onset of polymer chain motion in the interphase.     

Ac conductivity study of lithium and potassium diphosphate LiK3P2O7 using impedance spectroscopy

In this work, a LiK₃P₂O₇ ceramic material was prepared by the solid-state reaction method and identified by X-ray diffractometry. The dielectric properties, impedance characteristics, and modulus were studied over a range of frequency (200 Hz to 5 MHz) and temperature (615–708 K). The frequency and temperature dependence of dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss, and electric modulus is studied. The frequency analysis of modulus properties showed a distribution of relaxation times. Conductivity plots against frequency at a higher frequency suggested the response obeying the universal power law. The temperature behavior of the frequency exponents shows that the correlated barrier hopping CBH model is well adapted to this material. The activation energy associated with the impedance relaxation and the electric modulus spectra is close to the activation energy for dc conductivity indicating the similar nature of relaxation and conductivity. Thermodynamic parameters such as free energy of activation, enthalpy, and entropy have been calculated.     

Dielectric absorption in mixtures of anisole with some primary alcohols at microwave frequency

Dielectric properties of binary mixtures of anisole with methanol (MeOH), 1-propanol (1-PrOH), 1-butanol (1-BuOH) and 1-heptanol (1-HeOH) over an entire concentration range have been studied at a fixed temperature 40°C. The dielectric constant (ε′) and dielectric loss (ε″) of the binary mixtures of polar liquids have been determined at a microwave frequency of 9.1?GHz. The static dielectric permittivity (ε ₀) of the liquid samples was also determined using a precision LCR meter. Determined values of static dielectric permittivity (ε ₀) and dielectric permittivity (ε*) at 9.1?GHz frequency were used to evaluate relaxation time (τ) and high frequency limit dielectric permittivity (ε _∞). Dielectric parameters were interpreted in terms of molecular interaction between the anisole and alcohol molecules.     

Electrical transport characteristics of ZnO–Bi2O3–B2O3 glasses

Optically clear glasses in the ZnO–Bi₂O₃–B₂O₃ (ZBBO) system were fabricated via the conventional melt-quenching technique. Dielectric constant and loss measurements carried out on ZBBO glasses unraveled nearly frequency (1 kHz–10 MHz)-independent dielectric characteristics associated with significantly low loss (D?=?0.004). However, weak temperature response was found with temperature coefficient of dielectric constant 18?±?4 ppm °C^?1 in the 35–250 °C temperature range. The conduction and relaxation phenomena were rationalized using universal AC conductivity power law and modulus formalism respectively. The activation energy for relaxation determined using imaginary parts of modulus peaks was 2.54 eV which was close to that of the DC conduction implying the involvement of similar energy barriers in both the processes. Stretched and power exponents were temperature dependent. The relaxation and conduction in these glasses were attributed to the hoping and migration of Bi³⁺ cations in their own and different local environment.     

Electric Modulus Spectroscopic Studies of the Dielectric Properties of Carbon Nanotubes/Epoxy Polymer Composite Materials

The electrical properties of epoxy polymer/carbon nanotubes composites were characterized using impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range between 1 Hz and 10 MHz and temperature range between 25°C and 105°C. We report the analysis of the experimental data using the electric modulus formalisms to understand the dielectric relaxation mechanisms. The variation of the real and imaginary parts of the electric modulus versus frequency and temperature were suggestive of two relaxation processes, associated with dipolar relaxation and CNT-polymer interfaces. The Havriliak-Negami model of dielectric relaxation was used for modelling the relaxation processes, extracting the relaxation parameters.     

Ionic transport properties of PVdF-HFP-MMT intercalated nanocomposite electrolytes based on ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide

Ionic conductivity and transport properties of polyvinylidenefluoride–co-hexafluoropropylene– montmorillonite intercalated nanocomposite electrolytes based on ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide have been studied for various concentrations of montmorillonite clay. Ionic conductivity of the order of 10^?3?S?cm^?1 at room temperature with thermal stability up to about 235 °C has been obtained for the electrolyte system. The electrolyte system has superior properties at 5 wt% of clay loading with highly amorphous morphology as seen from selected area electron diffraction micrograph. Scanning electron microscope studies show that the electrolyte system has highly porous morphology and the ionic liquid is trapped in the pores. Dielectric properties of the electrolyte system have been studied to investigate the relaxation processes occurring in the system. Variation of real part of dielectric permittivity with frequency shows two relaxation processes occurring in the system, slow at low frequency and fast at high frequency. Kohlrausch exponential parameter has been calculated from modulus formalism, and the values show that the distribution of conductivity relaxation times becomes narrower with increasing clay loading.     

Structural and dielectric properties of undoped ZnO pellets prepared by solid state route

Undoped zinc oxide has been prepared at various growth temperatures by a conventional sintering process. The crystal structures of the prepared samples were studied by X-ray diffraction. The frequency-dependent dielectric dispersion of all the sintered ZnO ceramics was investigated in the temperature range from ?100 to 30 °C and in the frequency range from 1 Hz to 10 MHz by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. An analysis of the complex permittivity and electric modulus as a function of frequency has been performed assuming a distribution of relaxation times. The pellet sintered at 900 °C showed the lowest value of the dielectric strength. The temperature dependent of the parameter α is discussed. While the charge transport through the grain and grain boundary regions was examined by impedance spectroscopy. Activation energy values extracted from conduction measurements were found to be in the range of 0.09 and 0.3 eV.     

Enhanced energy storage in polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) + BaZrO<Subscript>3</Subscript> electroactive nanocomposites

PVDF + BaZrO₃ electroactive nanocomposite thin film has been prepared by solution casting method. The structural analysis was carried out by using x-ray diffraction pattern and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Generally, the performance of dielectric capacitors toward higher energy density and higher operating temperatures has been drawing increased interest. In this regard, the present study was focussed on the fabrication and characterization of PVDF + BaZrO₃ electroactive nanocomposites in view of enhancing the energy density at elevated temperature. Cole-Cole plot is an agreement with multiple relaxation process in electroactive nanocomposites. Dielectric energy storage performance is assessed for PVDF nanocomposites with different wt% of BaZrO₃ at different frequencies and temperature. It has been observed that with increase of temperature, the permittivity increased while the energy density slightly decreased but significantly higher than pure polymer PVDF. A high energy density of 6.88 J/cm³ was obtained for BaZrO₃ electroactive nanocomposites at 50 °C and 5.06 J/cm³ at 70 °C. Overall, the testing results indicate that using nanocomposites of PVDF and BaZrO₃ as a dielectric component is promising for implementation to preserve high energy density values up to temperatures of 70 °C.The enhancement of dielectric permittivity and the energy density is attributed due to increase of interracial charge density. The effect of BaZrO₃ nanoparticles in energy density of PVDF is first time reported.     

Investigation on crystalline structure and dielectric relaxation behaviors of hot pressed poly(vinylidene fluoride) film

The dielectric relaxation behaviors of hot pressed poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) film have been studied using dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency domain from 20 Hz to 5 MHz at temperatures between 20 °C and 200 °C. Crystalline/amorphous interphase is suggested with methods of FTIR, XRD, and DSC. Frequency and temperature dependence of dielectric spectroscopy reveals the relaxation behavior and structural dynamics of the samples, and three types of relaxation processes are suggested, α_Ac relaxation process contributed by the hopping transport process near the periphery of conduction band or valence zones at Fermi energy, α_c relaxation process related to the structure change of crystal lattice trapped dipoles in crystalline regions, and α_a relaxation process arising from segmental dipole rearrangement of interphases in amorphous regions. Cole-Cole and Havriliak-Negami experimental equations were utilized to analyze these relaxation processes, and differences of Arrhenius parameters for α_Ac and α_c relaxation processes obtained from Cole-Cole and Havriliak-Negami equations were discussed in detail. Activity energy of different relaxation processes obtained from Arrhenius equation and VFT equation indicates non-single thermal activation mechanism for hot pressed PVDF film.     

The Effect of Supercritical CO2 on the Macromolecules Parallel Conformation and Its Relation to the Electrical Conductivity and Dielectric Behavior of Epichlorohydrin Terpolymer

The effect of supercritical CO₂ on the electrical conductivity of poly(epichlorohydrin–Ethylene oxide–Allyl glycidal ether) terpolymer is investigated using dielectric spectroscopy. Impedance measurements were carried out in the frequency range from 100–10 MHz and the temperature range of ?35–70°C with intervals of 5°C. The experimental results of the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss were fitted with the Cole–Cole equation to obtain the maximum relaxation frequencies of the different relaxation processes. As a result of the CO₂ treatment process, enhancement in the polymer chain mobility without noteworthy change in the glass transition temperature was determined. In addition, the level of the DC conductivity and the dielectric strength were increased. These effects were attributed to improvement in the chain dynamics, which arises from enhancement in the parallel conformation of macromolecules.     

Ionic conduction and dielectric relaxation in polycrystalline Na2SO4

In the present paper, the ionic conductivity and the dielectric relaxation properties of Na₂SO₄ have been investigated by means of impedance spectroscopy measurements over wide ranges of frequencies and temperatures. The frequency dependent impedance data has been modeled by appropriate equivalent circuit representing the bulk and grain boundary properties of the sample. Phase transition temperatures and the activation energies of conduction in different phases have been determined from the temperature dependence of the dc conductivity. Dielectric relaxation has been studied using the complex electric modulus and permittivity formalisms. From the electric modulus formalism it is concluded that the relaxation mechanism is independent of temperature. The dielectric permittivity spectra were analyzed by the Cole–Cole formula where different parameters are determined.     

Dielectric,impedance and modulus spectroscopy of Ta-based layered perovskite

PbBi₂Ta₂O₉ ceramic samples were fabricated by high-temperature mixed oxide method. X-ray diffraction determines the structure as orthorhombic. The scanning electron microscopy confirms the formation of densely packed grains in the sample. The dielectric measurements, complex impedance and complex modulus study were carried out in a frequency range of 1?kHz–1?MHz and a temperature rangeof 25–500°C. The conduction mechanism of the material is discussed in details using variable range hoping, nearest neighbor hopping relaxation model and dc activation energy at two different temperature regimes. From the J-E characteristics studies, the occurrence of non-linear curves endorses the non-Ohmic nature of the material.     

Enthalpy Relaxation Study of Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Films Based on the Time-Temperature Superposition Principle

Abstract

In the enthalpy relaxation of poly(vinyl chloride), a decrease in enthalpy upon the isothermal ageing was measured using the differential scanning calorimetry method as a function of ageing time (t_A) and ageing temperature. The range of the ageing temperature was from 56?°C (T_g ? 25?°C) to 72?°C (T_g ? 9?°C) where T_g denotes the glass transition temperature. The limiting value of the decrease in enthalpy was determined by applying a stretched exponential function to the measured enthalpy data. The relaxation function (?) was derived from the measured enthalpy and the construction of a master curve was tried by shifting the ? ? t_A curves of the respective ageing temperatures horizontally. Although there was no agreement between the shift factors (a_T) and the relaxation times of the ? ? t_A curves, the superposition was successfully constructed and the a_T values obtained for the poly(vinyl chloride) sample were found to be comparable to those reported for viscoelastic experiments over a broad temperature range above and below T_g carried out for different polymers. The origin of the decrease in enthalpy was briefly discussed in terms of the chain dynamics in the isothermal condition.     

Impedance spectroscopy analysis of LiZnVO4 and LiMgVO4

A comparative LiZnVO₄ and LiMgVO₄ conductivity study was done from room temperature to 500 °C and at frequencies from 42 to 1 MHz. The impact of moisture absorption to the materials’ conductivity was investigated. It was shown for LiZnVO₄ that moisture absorption is responsible for the decrease of the compound’s conductivity as the material is heated up to 150 °C. The LiZnVO₄ bulk activation energy value was calculated to be 1.20 eV. Two grain boundary activation energy values were calculated for the LiZnVO₄, 0.59 eV at the lower temperature range and 1.37 eV at the higher temperature range. An explanation for the existence of these two values was given. Both materials’ plots of the loss factor (tanδ) versus frequency at different temperatures were found to display a peak, and the modulus master curves present a scaling behavior that suggests non Debye type conductivity relaxation and ion migration via hopping.     

Synthesis, structural and conductivity characterization of alginic acid–Fe3O4 nanocomposite

Alginic acid–Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite is synthesized by the precipitation of Fe₃O₄ in the presence of alginic acid (AA). Structural, surface, morphological, thermal and electrical transport properties of the nanocomposite were performed by XRD, FT-IR, TEM-SEM, TGA and conductivity measurements respectively. FT-IR analysis revealed that Fe₃O₄ NPs are strongly capped with AA and TGA analysis showed that nanocomposite have 80% of Fe₃O₄ content. TEM analysis of Fe₃O₄ NPs show an average particle size of 9.5 nm, and upon nanocomposite formation with AA these particles are observed to form aggregates of ~150 nm. The frequency-dependency of the AC conductivity show electrode polarization effect. Analysis of electrical modulus and dielectric permittivity functions suggest that ionic and polymer segmental motions are strongly coupled. DC electrical conductivity is strongly temperature dependent, and is classified into three regions over a limited temperature range of up to 100 °C.     

Impedance spectroscopy analysis of Li<Subscript>2</Subscript>SnO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

In this work, Li₂SnO₃ has been synthesized by the sol–gel method using acetates of lithium and tin. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) has been applied to the precursor of Li₂SnO₃ to determine the suitable calcination temperature. The formation of the compound calcined at 800 °C for 9 h has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The Li₂SnO₃ is then pelletized and electrically characterized by using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 1 MHz. The complex impedance spectra clearly show the dominating presence of the grain boundary effect on electrical properties whereas the complex modulus plots reveal two semicircles which are due to the grain (bulk) and grain boundary. The spectra of imaginary parts of both impedance and modulus versus frequency show the existence of peaks with the modulus plots exhibiting two peaks that are ascribed to the grain and grain boundary of the material. The peak maximum shifts to higher frequency with an increase in temperature and the broad nature of the peaks indicates the non-Debye nature of Li₂SnO₃. The activation energy associated with the dielectric relaxation obtained from the electrical impedance spectra is 0.67 eV. From the electric modulus spectra, the activation energies related to conductivity relaxation in the grain and grain boundary of Li₂SnO₃ are 0.59 and 0.69 eV, respectively. The conductivity–temperature relationship is thermally assisted and obeys the Arrhenius rule with the activation energy of 0.66 eV. The conduction mechanism of Li₂SnO₃ is via hopping.     

Dielectric study of natural inyoite in the frequency range from 10−1 to 107 Hz and the temperature range from −50 to 140°C

For the first time, the method of dielectric dispersion in the 10^?1–10⁷ frequency range is applied to study temperature the dependences of permittivity, conductivity, and dielectric modulus of natural inyoite in the temperature range from ?50 to 140°C. An anomalous increase in the parameters under consideration is observed at temperatures between 87 and 98°C. According to thermal gravimetrical measurements, this range is characterized by an anomaly resulting from a partial loss of crystallization water.     

Synthesis and characterization of Li<Subscript>1-x</Subscript>Tb<Subscript>x</Subscript>NiPO<Subscript>4</Subscript> solid solution as cathode materials for lithium ion battery application

Modified Pechini-type polymerizable precursor method has been used to prepare nanosized Li_1-xTb_xNiPO₄ (x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, and 0.07) solid solutions to obtain homogeneous with controlled stoichiometry and smaller particle size. The reaction temperature was determined by thermogravimetric (TG/DTA) analysis. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals the formation of orthorhombic structure and the calculated crystallite sizes are found to be in the range of 75–89 nm. Morphological, compositional, and vibrational properties were performed by SEM, EDAX, and FTIR, respectively. Conductivity measurements were carried out at room temperature by AC impedance analysis. The Li_0.97Tb_0.03Ni_0.99PO₄ sample shows one order of higher conductivity than pure LiNiPO₄. Higher concentration of terbium samples such as Li_0.95Tb_0.05Ni_0.99PO₄ and Li_0.93Tb_0.07Ni_0.99PO₄ lead to decrease of conductivity. The frequency dependency of dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss, and electric modulus of Li_1-x Tb_xNiPO₄ solid solutions are studied. The frequency-dependent plot of modulus reveals that the conductivity relaxation is of non-Debye type.     

Revisiting the Dielectric Relaxation of Ethylene-Vinylacetate Copolymers: Influence of Microstructure

The dielectric relaxation behavior of a series of ethylene-vinylacetate (EVA) copolymers was investigated by measuring the complex dielectric permittivity in a broad frequency and temperature range. Crystallinity of EVA copolymers was estimated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). The shape of the higher temperature relaxation, appearing above the glass transition temperature T _g depends on the VA content. It was found that this relaxation was asymmetric for VA concentrations higher than 40 wt% and changed to a symmetric shape at lower VA values. Concurrently, as the VA content decreased, a major broadening of the relaxation over a wide frequency range was observed. It is found that the dielectric relaxation was preserved on going through the melting range of the semicrystalline samples, although it exhibited changes of its characteristic parameters that are typical for segmental relaxation appearing at T _g. This finding allows one to associate this relaxation to the segmental motions at T _g in the amorphous phase and not to the existence of interfacial regions.     

Impedance spectroscopy study of zinc oxide incorporated iron borate glass-ceramic

Here, the effects of zinc oxide (ZnO) on impedance and dielectric properties of the ZnO incorporated iron borate (Fe₃BO₆) glass-ceramics were studied using impedance spectroscopy in a wide range of frequency (1 Hz – 1 MHz) and temperature (25 °C–250 °C). With ZnO addition, the ε′ and tanδ values were reduced significantly, the strength of the relaxation process also decreased, along with a decrease in conductivity. Activation energies associated with modulus and conductivity plots suggest that similar type of charge carriers was responsible for the relaxation and conduction processes. The analysis of both complex impedance and conductivity show the negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) behavior of the samples. The thermistor constant B-values of 5ZnO and 10ZnO were found to be 7223 and 7088 respectively. The study of the NTCR properties suggests a potential candidate for thermistor applications.