Dielectric Constants of a Binary Solution Near the Critical Solution Temperature

Abstract

The dielectric constants and dielectric losses of solutions of nitrobenzene and 2,2,4-trimethyl pentane have been measured near the critical solution temperature over a concentration range of 22–75% by weight and in the frequency regions of 5–60 and 1000 – 4000 kHz. It was found that below a critical concentration of 35% maxima existed in ε′ and ε″ at a temperature of 0.3 °C above the critical solution temperature. At higher concentrations the maxima disappeared and phase separation was preceded only by changes in the thermal coefficients dε′/dT and dε″/dT. The present study combined with others indicates that two regions of loss exist for the system near the critical temperature: low frequency losses of a conductive nature and high frequency losses of the Debye type. The published experimental knowledge of such systems remains insufficient to enable a thorough test of the theoretical studies published recently by Snider.