Effect of PEG number on dielectric properties of paraffin‐based PEG polymers at microwave frequencies

Abstract

PurposeTo investigate the effect of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) chain length on the dielectric properties of paraffin‐based PEG polymers (H(CH2)n–(OCH2CH2)mOH) from both experimental and analytical approach.Design/methodology/approachDielectric constant studies of paraffin‐based PEG polymers were carried out at temperatures above the melting point. The measurements were carried out at frequencies between 0.4 and 20 GHz. The number of PEG units, m, was varied from 0 to 80 to investigate the effect of the PEG chain length on the dielectric properties of the whole polymer.FindingsWith the existence of a dipole moment on PEG but not on pure paraffin, both the real and imaginary part of the dielectric permittivity become larger with increasing chain length of PEG. PEG 3000 showed the highest dielectric constants in the measured frequency range. The effect of the PEG chain length can be explained well by introducing the fraction of molecular weight of PEG divided by the molecular weight of the whole polymer (we call this fraction “Mw fraction of PEG”). Both, real and imaginary part of the dielectric permittivity exhibit a cubic dependence of the molecular weight fraction, and the loss tangent exhibits a linear dependence. These relationships make it possible to predict the microwave heating of the polymer in function of the PEG chain length, carbon chain length and microwave frequency.Originality/valueFor the dielectric permittivity of paraffin‐based PEG polymers, the effect of the PEG chain length, carbon chain length and applied microwave frequency on the loss tangent was explained well by introducing the molecular weight fraction of PEG.