Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy and AC Conductivity in Copper Chloride Doped Polyvinyl Alcohol

FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and the dielectric relaxation of pure Poly(Vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and PVA-CuCl₂, doped samples were examined. The films were doped with copper using the direct method consisting in the addition of a copper salt (CuCl₂) in the deposition bath of PVA. Doping of PVA with cupper chloride caused a considerable change in the FT-IR and X-ray spectra, indicating the structure modifications. The dielectric relaxations of PVA-CuCl₂ were studied in a wide range of frequencies (0.2–100 KHz), at temperature between 300–400 K. All samples have shown high values of dielectric constant at low frequency and high temperatures. This behaviour was attributed to the effect of electrode polarization and/or Maxwell-Wagner-Sillar polarization. Conductivity measurements were undertaken with the aim of describing the possible mechanisms of conduction in these materials.