Application of dielectric relaxation spectroscopy to study metal/polymer interfacial interaction

Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy (DRS) has been applied for the investigation of the influence of the metal/polymer interfacial interaction on the dielectric relaxation properties of polyurethane (PU), in the frequency range from 0,1 Hz to 10 MHz at temperatures from 223 to 423 K in the dependence of thickness of the PU layer (from 10 to 150 μm) and electrode material (gold and steel). Strong electrostatic interaction between steel substrate and the PU results in changing the dielectric relaxation properties of the latter, comparatively with gold substrate. The influence of metal/polymer electric double layer becomes significant at thickness less than 60 μm for the steel substrate. For the gold electrodes, the relaxation characteristics of the PU hardly depend on thickness.