The slow dielectric Debye relaxation of monoalcohols in confined geometries

Journal article, 2011

Broadband dielectric relaxation measurements have been performed on monoalcohols confined in the quasi-two-dimensional space between clay platelets and the quasi-one-dimensional pores of approximately 10 angstrom diameter in a molecular sieve. Interestingly, the results show that the slow Debye-like process is present even in these severe confinements, proving that structural models that are based on two-dimensional or three-dimensional cluster formations as the structural origin of the Debye-like process can be excluded. Rather, the insensitivity of its time-scale to confinements suggests that it is of local character and in some way related to the lifetime or breaking and reformation of hydrogen bonds. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3563630]