Characterizing the state of water in an amorphous magnesium carbonate using Dielectric spectroscopy

Abstract: In the industry of today, materials which can adsorb and hold large amounts of water are playing an important role. Here, the free and bound water carrying capacity of an amorphous magnesium carbonate is investigated. It is also determined how these parameters depend on the relative humidity of the surrounding environment. To do this, the technique of dielectric spectroscopy is employed. Along with the water binding properties, the concentration of charge carriers and the diffusion coefficient was determined. A smaller part of around 10-30 % of the water adsorbed was shown to behave as free water in the material. The concentration of charge carriers was calculated to be in an order of magnitude of 1018-1022 m-3 for the higher relative humidity environments. The diffusion coefficient was shown to be about 5'10-9 m2/s for the adsorption spectrum. This value is in good agreement with the value for OH- ions in water.