Polymer Dynamics by Dielectric Spectroscopy

Theoretical modeling of polymer dynamics is fundamentally important to describe experimental results and to develop new materials. There are many different processes in polymers covering a very broad time range. Dielectric spectroscopy is able to cover a broad frequency range, around 10 decades. Thus many different processes can be studied and it provides a unique means to explore the processes and the time-scales. In our presentation, we emphasize how the line-shape permits to derive information on certain mechanisms. We use entangled melts and demonstrate the influence of entanglements, contour length-fluctuations and constraint release on the spectra and describe it by a theory. Furthermore, we compare it to rheology experiment and demonstrate those parts which are complimentary. We use this knowledge to achieve an advanced understanding of polymer dynamics in nanocomposites.