Cavity-enhanced microwave spectroscopy has been a tool for study chemical phenomenon for decades. Initially designed to study the dielectric constant of dilute gases, cavity-enhanced microwave spectroscopy has been applied to study dipole moment of solute molecules (known as dielectric-loss), to measuring free-charge generation in semiconducting solids (known as microwave conductivity). Over the past few decades, cavity-enhanced microwave spectroscopy has been mainly focused on microwave conductivity as the other applications fell out of favor due to limitations in their experimental design and data analysis. However, with recent advances in computational modeling, we have been able to work around some of these hurdles and revive dielectric-loss spectroscopy. Using computer aided drafting and finite element analysis software, we can solve Maxwell’s equations for improved microwave cavity geometries. Additionally, accurate simulation of solution-phase molecular rotation, allows us to push the capabilities of dielectric-loss spectroscopy to quantitatively study ground-state and excited-state dipole moments and polarizability volumes of molecules in low polarity solvents. This revised capability provides us a new prospective on chemical phenomenon that may otherwise go missed with more common visible spectroscopies.

Resurrecting dielectric-loss spectroscopy to study dipole moments and polarizability volumes

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ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.