No abstract

Dielectric measurements were carried out for polystyrene microcapsules which were prepared by means of an interracial polymer deposition technique. The microcapsules showed a couple of dielectric relaxations termed P for lower and Q for higher frequencies. The frequency profiles were characteristic of the structure that shelled spheres were dispersed in a continuous medium. Gelatin aqueous solutions, cationic polyelectrolyte solutions and distilled water were loaded in the capsule interior to examine the effect of conductivities of the constituent aqueous phases on the dielectric properties. Relaxation frequencies of the relaxations P and Q observed were directly proportional to the conductivities of the continuous medium and of the capsule interior, respectively. A dielectric theory was proposed for a suspension of shelled spheres in a continuous phase in order to analyze the relaxation data observed for the microcapsules. Volume fraction of the capsules, relative permittivity and conductivity of the capsule interior and thickness of the capsule wall are evaluated from the dielectric observations by use of the theoretical formulas derived. The dielectric behavior observed for the polystyrene microcapsules are interpreted quantitatively in terms of the dielectric theory proposed.

A method of numerical analysis is proposed to determine the phase parameters from dielectric observations of polystyrene microcapsules by using the conductivity at intermediate frequencies between two dielectric relaxations observed. The method was more feasible for the analysis of the microcapsule observations than the method by which the calculation is performed by use of the permittivity at lower frequencies. The method was applied to the dielectric observations of the KCbloaded microcapsules to obtain the permittivity and the conductivity of the capsule interior, the thickness of the capsule wall, the volume fraction of the suspended capsules and the conductivity of the surrounding aqueous phase. The conductivity of capsule interior was found to be unchanged with time for as long as 3 months. From the results it is concluded that the microcapsules are impermeable to KC1.