ABSTRACT
Dielectric and electro-optic low-frequency analyses are the basic source of information on the electric polarization of charged colloids. In electro-optic investigations, the saturation curves are used to apply fitting procedures to test theoretical constructions or to obtain the saturation value at complete particle orientation related to particle dimensions. In the hertz domain the relaxation frequency of particle rotation is detected by the relaxation of the alternating component of the electro-optic response. Electro-optic data is presented for the palygorskite particles, used in many studies as model electro-optic object. Scaling of the electro-optic saturation curves by field intensity permits to find the frequency range in which the functional dependence of the effects, hence the orientation mechanism, remains unchanged. In the hertz domain the electro-optic effects show different field intensity dependence. The electro-optic characteristics obtained by the scaling procedure are independent of the optical properties of the colloidal system and the method can be applied to optically interacting systems.
