Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Currents

The β-relaxation of amorphous polyesters was studied by measurement of Thermally Stimulated Depolarisation Currents in order to elucidate the nature of the motions at the origin of the β-relaxation. The β-relaxation peaks differ for the studied polymers. The first component, β1 can be assigned to the motion of carboxyl groups while the second component, β2 must be attributed to motion along the chain of a short segment. By the use of elementary spectra it appears that the motions which occur during the β relaxation are localized and non-cooperative.