Dielectric Sensing-Based Systems and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Dielectric properties are fundamental characteristics of materials and, as such, they are often used to describe the “fingerprint” of a material in various applicative contexts.

At the state-of-the-art, however, there is not a universal sensing system that can be used to measure the dielectric properties of materials. By contrast, the choice of the system depends on the nature of the material (e.g., liquid, granular, solid) and on the frequency range of the characterization. Additionally, the final accuracy of results and costs influence the suitability of dielectric measurement systems. As a result, the scientific community is still challenged by the need to investigate innovative dielectric measurement solutions that could offer a trade-off of cost, accuracy, and frequency range of analysis.

In addition to this, the importance of measuring dielectric properties goes beyond the characterization of a material; in fact, dielectric characteristics are often measured to infer other properties (not necessarily electric) of the system under test. For example, in the food industry, dielectric properties are important for assessing the quality or microwaveability of food. In forestry and soil science, dielectric measurements are used to evaluate the moisture content and water level in various metrials. In the industrial sector, dielectric measurements are used to infer several properties of materials and products.

Starting from these considerations, this Topical Collection is open to research and review contributions related to 1) innovative methods and systems for the characterization of dielectric properties of materials and 2) innovative sensing and monitoring systems that resort to measurement of dielectric properties to retrieve other information on the system under test.

The list of topics includes but is not limited to:

• Enhancement of the accuracy of existing dielectric measurement systems;
• Development and validation of innovate dielectric permittivity models;
• Development of innovative sensing and monitoring systems based on dielectric measurements;
• Development of innovative probes or sensing elements for measuring dielectric properties.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Cataldo
Prof. Dr. Emanuele Piuzzi
Dr. Agnieszka Szypłowska
Collection Editors

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