Droplet model for the analysis of the dielectric properties of critical binary mixtures

Abstract

We present here some further developments of the droplet model recently proposed by Oxtoby, which appears quite suitable for an extensive phenomenological analysis of the dielectric behavior of binary mixtures in the vicinity of a consolute critical point. Along the critical isochore, one may expect the static permittivity εE(T) to remain finite but to exhibit a cusp, whereas the nonlinear dielectric effect, the Kerr effect, and the Cotton–Mouton effect all are predicted to diverge strongly with the universal exponent Ψ=2γ−dν. These predictions are supported by recent experimental evidence.