Dielectric Relaxation Time and Relaxation Time Distribution of Alcohol−Water Mixtures

Abstract

Complex permittivity was measured in the frequency range from 10 MHz to 20 GHz at 25 °C for water mixtures of 22 aliphatic alcohols. The molecular structures of these alcohols systematically changed with the number of carbon atoms and hydroxyl groups, and their positions in the molecules. The asymmetric shape of the frequency dependence of the dielectric loss for the primary relaxation process was observed for each mixture. The broadness of the asymmetric dielectric loss depends on the water content, and the broadest dielectric loss was observed in the water mole fraction range of 0.65 < xw < 0.85. There is a strong correlation between the broadness of dielectric loss and the number of carbon atoms in the alcohol molecule. Deviations of observed relaxation times from those estimated for ideal mixtures depend on the number of carbon atoms except for the mixtures of water and alcohols with large alkyl groups, which form a micelle-like structure. These experimental results are interpreted on the basis of a model of three kinds of cooperative domains coexisting in the mixtures.