Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) studies on porous materials with fractal structure

The structure of most porous materials is quite complex. The porosity of materials (total volume fraction of material occupied by pores) can vary in a very broad range, from much less than 1% up to more than 99 % , in the case of aerogels. In the last two decades the characterization of the structure of porous materials has made a milestone progress owing to the use of fractal geometry. At present it is generally accepted that the fractal models of pore structure describe the real morphology better than the classical models which assume the existence of macro-, meso- and micropores of simple geometry. The SAXS method is specially useful in the studies of porous materials in the length scale 10-1000 A. It gives information which is difficult to obtain or even not available by use of other methods. The SAXS studies were performed on silica aerogels and copper foils electrodeposited in galvanostatic conditions. The fractal concept was applied in the interpretation of SAXS results. (author)