Charged Particle Transport: As Information Source about Ion Conductors, Dielectric Materials, and Drug Delivery Systems

Sammanfattning: This thesis treats charged particle transport, mostly in solid materials but also, to some extent, in aqueous media. Three major types of materials have been investigated; dielectric materials, ion conductors, and drug-delivery systems.The frequency-dependent dielectric permittivity of sputtered amorphous thin film tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) has been determined by using impedance spectroscopy. A new interpolation formula has been derived, that interpolates between the two power-law regions at low and high frequencies usually observed in the dielectric spectrum. This formula is based on a regular-singular-point (RSP) analysis of the conduction process, and the power-laws in the dielectric spectrum are interpreted in terms of RSPs of the underlying rate equation for the corresponding polarization-current response function.Lithium transport properties of Ta2O5 have been analyzed by using the galvanostatic intermittent titration technique and by isothermal transient ionic current measurements. Chemical and component diffusion coefficients for intercalated lithium have been extracted. Moreover, the ion conduction process has been analyzed theoretically, and expressions for transient ionic currents derived, both for single ion-conducting layers and for three-layered structures of ion conductors.Electrical measurement techniques have also been applied to pharmaceutical systems. The alternating ionic current technique has been developed as a tool for determining the release of electrically charged drug substances in aqueous media. Tablets made of agglomerated micronized cellulose have been investigated, and sodium chloride has been used as a model drug. An attempt has been made to describe the combined drug dissolution and drug release processes in mathematical terms.