AbstractThe α‐relaxation process of poly(4‐methyl pentene‐1) was studied by dielectric and dynamic mechanical means. The complex dielectric constant was determined at nine discrete frequencies from 100 to 10,000 Hz and over a temperature range of −50–90°C. The complex dynamic mechanical Young's modulus was determined over the audiofrequency range of 10–22,000 Hz and a temperature range of 21–76°C, from which a master curve was constructed. The relaxation process was studied by comparing the activation energies and width of the dispersion curves. The results of a logarithmic frequency vs. reciprocal temperature plot of the loss peak maxima show that both the dielectric and mechanical curves are roughly linear but have different slopes. From the slopes the activation energies were determined. For the dielectric data an activation energy of 39 kcal/mol was obtained, whereas for the mechanical data a value of 106 kcal/mol was found. The width of the dispersion curves was determined by using a Cole–Cole empirical fit. The width of the dielectric dispersion curve is narrower by as much as a factor of 3 than the mechanical dispersion curve. It is concluded that the energy to cause the large scale molecular motion involved in the α‐relaxation is lower when excited by an alternating electric field than by an alternating stress field. Also the number of repeat units involved is smaller in the dielectric case than i
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