An assessment of comparative methods for approaching electrode polarization in dielectric permittivity measurements

We examine the validity of three common methods for analysis and correction of the electrode polarization (EP) effect in dielectric spectroscopy measurements of conductive liquid samples. The methods considered are (i) algorithmic treatment by modeling the EP behavior at constant phase angle, (ii) varying the size of the electrode gap, and (iii) polypyrrole (PPyPss) layered electrodes. The latter is a relatively recent innovation suggested to be an efficient solution. We demonstrate that PPyPss coated electrodes do not diminish the effect of EP, and even add relaxation processes of its own. Our conclusion is that these polymer coated electrodes are not suitable for the correction of electrode polarization. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4746992]