A dielectric analysis of liquid and glassy solid glucose/water solutions

Dielectric relaxation data covering a temperature range from above room tem perature to below the glass transition for 40% (w/w) and 75% (w/w) glucose/ water solutions in the frequency range between 5 and 13 MHz are presented. These data are used to obtain correlation times for the dielectric relaxati on in the viscous liquid and the glass and are compared with correlation ti mes determined from deuterium nuclear spin relaxation times [J. Chem. Phys. , 110 (1999) 3472-3483]. The two sets of results have the same temperature dependence, but differ in magnitude by a factor of 3, implying that the rel axation is a small-step rotational diffusion. Both the structural relaxatio n (alpha process) and the slow beta process are present. In the 40% glucose /water sample, there is a dielectric relaxation attributable to the ice tha t forms at low temperature. It is shown that the reciprocal of the viscosit y, the correlation time derived from the dielectric relaxation, and the de conductivity have a similar dependence on temperature. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. All rights reserved.