Dielectric relaxation of some normal alcohols in non-polar solvents

Abstract

Although monohydric alcohols have been extensively studied by dielectric techniques there has been, as yet, no general agreement regarding the interpretation of the dielectric measurements in terms of the fluid structure of these compoundslW5. From static dielectric measurements it is believed that at least three different kinds of hydrogen-bonded alcohol multimers can occur6: large multimers with a high dipole moment, dominating for the normal alcohols in the pure state; smaller multimers with a low dipole moment and probably a cyclic structure, dominating at lower concentrations (for some branched alcohols these multimers dominate in the pure state’, *); and finally linear dimers with a relatively high dipole moment, whose influence is clearly seen at very low concentrations. In the dielectric relaxation of the normal alcohols three relaxation ranges