Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy: A Powerful Tool for the Determination of Charge Transfer Mechanisms in Ion Conductors

Ionically conducting materials (ICM) are of great importance for the fabrication of portable batteries for electronic devices such as computers, tools, video and still cameras, and for the development of fuel cell and battery-powered electric vehicles, dye-sensitized solar cells, supercapacitors and sensors. It has been suggested that conductivity in ICMs occurs via a number of different processes. The predominant conductivity processes are attributed to: a) the charge migration of ions between coordination sites in the host materials; and b) the increase of conductivity due to relaxation phenomena involving the dynamics of the host materials. Ions “hopping” to new chemical environments can lead to successful charge migration only if ion-occupying domains relax via reorganizational processes, which generally are coupled with relaxation events associated with the host matrix. In this chapter, the authors will describe in a concise fashion, the instruments used to comprehensively study the electric response of ionic conductors. To provide the reader with the basic tools necessary for understanding broadband dielectric spectroscopy, the first part will review the general phenomena and basic theory behind each type of electric response that materials may exhibit when they are subjected to static or dynamic electric fields. This will be achieved by focusing on the practical use of equations, while referring the reader to specialized texts for detailed explanations of the equations. The second part of this chapter will describe in detail the strategies of data analysis, which is accomplished using specific empirical or theoretical models. The third part will detail the methodologies for accurate data collection.