fig4

Figure 4. Dielectric constant ε_r(f) curves for all samples measured at T ~250 K with an f-range from 100 Hz to 1.0 MHz. (A) Schematic of the ice-hydrogel structural model, where the ice grains and polymeric chain networks constitute a two-phase interpenetrated composite. (B) ε_r(f) curves for pure ice and dried hydrogel. (C), (D), (E) and (F) Measured ε_r(f) data (open circle red dots) and evaluated ε_r(f) data (open square black dots) from the Maxwell-Garnett equation [Equation (2)] for a series of samples with f_w = 0.245, 0.483, 0.589 and 0.723, respectively, where indicates the difference between the calculated and measured ε_r(f) data in the low-f range.