Macroscopic polymer analogues

Disordered fiber mats made of glass microfibers (GMF) were studied using sm all-angle light scattering (SALS), ultrasmall-angle X-ray scattering (USAXS ), SEM, and optical microscopy. The morphological scaling of these material s in the micron scale was very similar to that of polymers in the nanometer scale. In some fiber mats, such as GMF, the structure is randomized at the time of formation, leading to a statistical analogy with the thermal rando mization that occurs in nanometer-scale, high polymers. Analogues for the c oil radius-of-gyration, persistence unit, and scaling regimes exist in such fiber mats and may be a useful feature both for modeling thermally equilib rated polymeric systems, as well as furthering the understanding of the phy sical properties of fiber mats through analogy with the theoretical underst anding of thermally equilibrated polymeric systems. (C) 1998 John Wiley & S ons, Inc.