title: Quantification of a single aggregate inner porosity and pore accessibility using hard X-ray phase-contrast nanotomography.
abstract: The 3D structure of three individual aggregates composed of 165 nm polystyrene primary particles is revealed nondestructively by hard X-ray phase-contrast synchrotron nanotomography. Three-dimensional image analysis allows us for the first time to obtain the complex inner porosity of the entire aggregate. It is demonstrated that despite their rather compact structure, characterized by a fractal dimension equal to 2.7, the produced aggregates are still porous, with porosity increasing with its size. Generated pores have diameters from 100 nm to 3 μm and are almost completely interconnected.
authors.affiliation: Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. pavel.trtik@empa.ch
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trtik
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soos
authors.forename: Beat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Münch
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lamprou
authors.forename: Rajmund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mokso
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stampanoni
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011137:Polystyrenes