A systematic and comprehensive study of the electrical properties of polymers, the topics covered in this reference/text progress from the physical fundamentals of dielectrics to structure-property relationships to molecular dynamics and relaxations. Also included are fascinating, focused discussions of the properties of liquid crystals, piezoelectric and pyroelectric materials, nonlinear optical polymers, and conducting polymers.

Features end-of-chapter problems and useful appendixes to aid in the update of theoretical and computational notions.

The text explores the properties of quasi-static dipoles, reviewing Brownian motion, Debye theory, Langevin and Smoluchowski equations, and the Onsager model; displays Maxwell, conservation, entropy, and other equations that depict the thermodynamics of dielectric relaxation; considers experimental approaches to studying dielectric polymers; inspects mean-square dipole moments of gases, liquids, polymers, and fixed conformations; outlines the principles of electric birefringence; explains molecular dynamics simulations of dynamic dielectric properties, including arrival at the time-dipole correlation coefficient .