Langmuir, Vol.27, No.21, 12788-12791, 2011
Quantification of a Single Aggregate Inner Porosity and Pore Accessibility Using Hard X-ray Phase-Contrast Nanotomography
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 mu m and are almost completely interconnected.