Time-domain dielectric spectroscopy studies of macromolecular solutions

The development in recent years of the technique of timedomain dielectric spectroscopy (TDS) has provided a fast and accurate method to study both low molecular mass substances and polymers. The system permits five orders of magnitude of frequency (10⁵-10¹⁰ Hz) to overlap in one single measurement. The results can be presented both in frequency [in terms of complex dielectric permittivity ε^*(ω) and in time [in terms of the dielectric response function φ (t)] domains. In this review we describe how TDS can be applied to investigate complex systems, and the kind of information regarding molecular mobility and structure that can be extracted, and provide examples of dielectric properties in macromolecular solutions of different types. The advantages of using TDS in comparison to other frequency methods will be presented.