Small-angle scattering from three-phase systems: Investigation of the crossover between mass fractal regimes

Abstract

In this paper, we construct a three-phase model (that is, a system consisting of three homogeneous regions with various scattering length densities), which illustrate the behavior of small-angle scattering (SAS) scattering curves. Here two phases are a deterministic fractal embedded in another deterministic mass fractal, and they altogether are further embedded in a third phase, which can be a solution or solid matrix. We calculate SAS intensities, derive expressions for the crossover position (that is, the point where the power-law scattering exponent changes) as a function of control parameters, including size, concentration, and volumes of each phase. The corresponding SAS intensities from these models describe a succession of power-law regimes in momentum space where both regimes correspond to mass fractals. The models can be applied to SAS data where the absolute value of the scattering exponent of the first power-law regime is higher than that of the subsequent second power-law regime, that is, the scattering curve of "convex" kind near the crossover position.