The dielectric behavior of a microemulsion prepared from dodecane, but
anol, water and polyoxyethylene (10) oleylalcohol (Brij 97) has been s
tudied by time domain dielectric spectroscopy over the frequency range
of 10(5)-10(10) HZ for temperatures between 10 and 40 degrees C with
varying water content. Several dielectric dispersion regions with the
typical characteristic relaxation times of the order of nanoseconds an
d tens of picoseconds are observed. They are analyzed in time domain i
n terms of macroscopic dipole correlation functions and are attributed
to the relaxation mechanisms of the different chemical compounds with
in the microemulsion. The appearance and intensity of the peaks for th
e relaxation processes depend on the water content. The types of motio
n of different kinetic units that can be manifested as local relaxatio
n processes are proposed. The dielectric properties of microemulsions
depend on the underlying phase behavior and on the consequent morpholo
gy in these systems. The results suggest that changes in the microstru
cture of polarization and relaxation mechanisms occur in the water fra
ction content intervals of 5-10, 10-35 and 35%.