Measurement Of The Dielectric Properties Of Polystyrene Particles In Electrolyte Solution

The permittivity and conductivity of suspensions of spherical sub micron size polystyrene particles were measured in the 10 KHz to 10 MHz frequency range using a HP 4192A Impedance Analyzer. Due to the high conductivity of the samples (0.1 to 0.6 S/m) every detail of the measurements had to be optimized. For each sample, the instrument was calibrated as an electric quadrupole, by means of short, open, and reference measurements, using for this last a standard electrolyte with a conductivity similar to that of the sample. The results obtained were combined with measurements in the 1 MHz to 28 GHz range made in Goettingen, Germany, using precisely the same samples. The final spectra cover the broadest frequency range to date for these systems.