MORPHOLOGY OF TIO2 AEROGELS .2. SMALL-ANGLE NEUTRON-SCATTERING

The microstructural characteristics of titanium dioxide aerogels were studied with small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). A variety of model s were used to extract the morphological parameters from the SANS data . The scattering data were interpreted in terms of a model that consis ts of nanocrystallites of TiO2 that are densely packed in mesoaggregat es. This model is consistent with nitrogen gas adsorption and transmis sion electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. The particle size distrib ution was fit to a log-normal distribution and maximal entropy method( MEM). The structure-related geometrical parameters are discussed.