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Macromolecules, Vol.33, No.5, 1910-1916, 2000
Scaling behavior of the high-frequency dielectric properties of poly-L-lysine aqueous solutions
We report the scaling behavior of the dielectric parameters, the dielectric strength Delta epsilon and the relaxation time tau, of the high-frequency dielectric dispersions observed in aqueous solutions of poly-L-lysine of different molecular weights, from 4000 to 167 000. The dielectric properties have been measured in the frequency range from 1 MHz to 1.8 GHz, and the dispersions have been attributed to internal motions of side chain polar groups, resulting in an intermediate relaxation process between that due to the counterion atmosphere polarization and that due to the orientational polarization of the water molecules. The scaling relationships are compared with the predictions of the dynamic scaling theory recently surveyed by Dobrynin, Colby, and Rubinstein (Macromolecules 1995, 28, 1859) developed to describe both the dilute and semidilute regimes of aqueous polyelectrolyte solutions. Our data, based on the analysis of a new set of dielectric measurements of poly-L-lysine aqueous solutions over an extended range of polymer concentrations and temperatures for each of the molecular weights investigated, are qualitatively consistent with this scaling picture. Deviations from the predicted indices in the power law behavior of the relaxation time in the high molecular weight polymer solutions are briefly discussed.