Time-domain dielectric relaxation in polyamide 6, poly(vinyl chloride), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer and poly(vinylidene fluoride)

The time-domain dielectric responses of polyamide 6 (PA6), poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to a voltage step were measured at different temperatures. From the variation of the sample capacitance,C, with time, the ratioF_d/C was determined, whereF_d = (dC/dlnt)_max is the maximum (inflexion) slope of the capacitance versus log(time) dipole response curve, and C is the difference between the initial and the extrapolated equilibrium capacitance values. A modified KohIrausch-WiIIiams-Watts (stretched exponential) function provided a good fit to the measuredC(t) data. For low temperatures, typically below – 20°C,F_d/C, is about 0.1, characteristic of highly cooperative relaxation, while at higher temperatures the ratio approaches 1/e, characteristic of nearly independent (Maxwellian) relaxation. This is in contrast to corresponding analyses of mechanical relaxation in solids for which the constant is almost always near 0.1 at room temperature.