The importance of particle characterization in both the research and development, and the manufacture and quality control of materials and products that we use in our everyday lives is, in some sense, invisible to those of us not directly involved with these activities. Few of us know how particle size, shape, or surface characteristics can influence, for example, the efficacy of a painreliever, or the efficiency of a catalytic converter, or the resolution of a printer. The ever-increasing demand for standardization (promoted in large part by organizations such as ISO) has led to a greater awareness of the many ways in which the characteristics of a particle can.
