Electrical conduction and polarization in cellulose in relation to its water content

The electrical properties of native and mercerized cellulose are compared. The DC conductivity, complex dielectric constant in the frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 10 MHz, and piezoelectric constant have been measured for native and mercerized samples as functions of water content. The dielectric increment Δε of the mercerized sample, as obtained from Cole-Cole plots, is more than twice as large as that of native cellulose. This is attributed to the fact that by mercerization, chains in the amorphous phase are more regularly packed, and the correlation length for orientation of OH groups increases, resulting in an increase of Δε. In addition, a smaller piezoelectric constant is indicated for the mercerized sample