From Nanopores to Macropores: Fractal Morphology of Graphite

Abstract: We present a comprehensive structural characterization of two different highly pure nuclear graphites that compasses all relevant length scales from nanometers to sub-mm. This has been achieved by combining several experiments and neutron techniques: Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), high-resolution Spin Echo SANS (SESANS) and neutron imaging. In this way it is possible to probe an extraordinary broad range of 6 orders of magnitude in length from microscopic to macroscopic length scales. The results reveal a fractal structure that extends from $ \sim $ 0.6 nm to 0.6 mm and has surface and mass fractal dimensions both very close to 2.5, a value found for percolating clusters and fractured ranked surfaces in 3D.