Modifications in the correlation function in poly(vinyl alcohol)/silica hybrid wet gels

Small-angle X-ray scattering was used to study modifications in the correlation function in tetraethoxysilane-derived poly(vinyl alcohol)/silica hybrids. An additional scattering at low q was found to overlap the fundamental mass-fractal scattering from the basic silica. The fraction of both contributions to the total correlation function was estimated; this is the first time that such a study has been carried out for mass-fractal structures.