Welcome to the Particle Characterisation Interest Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry!
PCIG, is a Royal Society of Chemistry Interest Group dedicated to advancing the science and technology of particle characterisation. Whether you are a researcher, industry professional, or student, our community provides a platform for sharing knowledge, discovering innovative techniques, and fostering collaborations. Explore our resources, join our events, and connect with experts in the field to stay at the forefront of particle characterisation.
Thank you for your interest in particle characterisation, and for getting to this landing page for our PCIG website.
Although our interest group includes experts from many fields, we don’t offer any definition for the term “particle” or advise which techniques are the most important to help with characterisation. We decided against a definition as we didn’t want to limit its scope for anyone with an interest (or create any unnecessary disagreement in the scientific community).
You’ve found us as you probably have a particle you need/want to characterise.
What we do provide is a list of properties of particles and analytical techniques which help with characterisation. Neither list is definitive and we would welcome any additions so that these lists are as comprehensive as possible. We are intending that the topics listed will be hyper-linked to another page with relevant details of the property or method. Again, any additions to these would be welcomed. Check the “Particle Insights” section.
Specifications for materials have typically focussed on chemical purity such as HPLI, HPLA, etc. Physical properties weren’t always included unless there was a compelling reason.
Many industries are starting to define which physical properties ensure good performance in downstream processes, such as formulation. A 1cm3 cube of sugar would have the same chemical properties as a sphere of the same size but altogether different physical properties such as flow. Some particle size methods would measure them as the same, yet a simple optical observation would suffice to suggest a difference. Whilst this is a trite analogy it serves to illustrate the point that choosing the right methods to measure the right properties can be so important.
Chris Williamson, BA, FRSC
Chair PCIG