Effective permittivity of composite elastomer with account of electric conductivity of phases and imperfect interface

The homogenization problem of micromechanics in application to the effective permittivity of particulate composite elastomer with conducting constituents and imperfect interface is studied. The available in literature theoretical models are critically reviewed and the typical problems with interpretation of experimental data are addressed. The imperfect dielectric phases is pointed out as a probable reason of the discrepancy between the theory and experiment. It has been shown that taking the electric conductivity of the composite constituents into account greatly improves accuracy of the predictive models. The Maxwell-Wagner model has been extended to composite dielectrics with imperfect interface. Some possible directions of further research are outlined.