Novel numerical method for acquiring a geometrical description of nanodielectrics

Nanodielectric electrical insulation has shown promising characteristics in recent years. Potential applications are numerous, ranging from advanced capacitors to optical sensors. To be able to tailor novel materials and determine their full potential, one needs to establish the structure-property-performance relationship in these materials. One such approach is laid out in this study. We have employed a widely used numerical method (the finite element method) to estimate the effective permittivity of an actual binary mixture (a clay-filled nanodielectric) from a two-dimensional transmission electron microscopy image. The obtained effective permittivity was then used to determine the spectral densities for various depolarization factors. We show explicitly that the spectral density resolves the geometrical description in the nanodielectric. As a result, low frequency impedance data can be used as a microscopy technique. We believe that the approach employed here has potential in several fields of science and engineering.