Dielectric properties of paper as a function of moisture content

The authors report on Thermally Stimulated Depolarization Current (TSDC) measurements on samples of commercial paper (cardboard) with different water contents, in the temperature range of 80-300 K. A major feature of the TSDC method, which makes it particularly suitable for studying multiple dielectric relaxations (as in the case of hydrated paper) is to resolve relaxation processes arising from sets of dipoles with slightly different relaxation times. The objective was, using the experimental possibilities offered by this method, to study the dielectric behaviour of paper and the influence of the adsorbed water on this behaviour