On the features of the dielectric response of supercooled ethylcyclohexane

Andrea Mandanici (1) , Wei Huang (2) , Maria Cutroni (3) , Ranko Richert (2)

1 Dipartimento di Fisica
2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry [Tempe]
3 Dipartimento di Fisica

The main relaxation observed in supercooled ethylcyclohexane in the 50 Hz � 20 kHz frequency range using high resolution dielectric spectroscopy displays an unusual relaxation pattern. The slope of the dielectric loss profile above the peak frequency progressively tends to zero with increasing temperatures. The observed features could be compatible with the existence of different underlying processes. This work exploits a simple approach based on scaling and provides relevant information on the properties of the primary and secondary relaxation in ethylcyclohexane. We show that the apparently anomalous behaviour is due to the superposition of a secondary process to the dielectric α-process and support the thesis that the β-relaxation observed in the glassy phase could have an intramolecular origin.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Andrea Mandanici, Wei Huang, Maria Cutroni, Ranko Richert. On the features of the dielectric response of supercooled ethylcyclohexane. Philosophical Magazine, 2008, 88 (33-35), pp.3961-3971. ⟨10.1080/14786430802537753⟩. ⟨hal-00513984⟩