Hierarchy of dielectric relaxation times in water

This work presents a simple model, which allows us to obtain the relation between macroscopic and microscopic dielectric relaxation times in water on the basis of the Zwanzig-Mori formalism for the time correlation functions. In the model it is supposed that water consists of areas, so-called clusters, the size of which are defined by the dipoles spatial correlation radius. The macroscopic dielectric relaxation time of a sample is the relaxation time of the cluster polarization. The obtained relation between macroscopic and microscopic dielectric relaxation times contains the parameters depending on the cluster shape and structure. Such an approach is valid for the associated liquids having one macroscopic relaxation time only. As to systems with the wide distribution of relaxation times this approach demands generalization. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.