Commission on Powder Diffraction

The IUCr Commission on Powder Diffraction (CPD) was formed in 1987 and it is one of the major purposes of the commission to provide an information link between the very large industrial community and the more academic, less applied aspects of the subject. The commission will continue to do this through the IUCr by endorsing large and small meetings, by encouraging collaboration between groups working in similar fields, by enhancing mobility of students to attend CPD events, and by undertaking specific projects designed to improve standards and research practices in powder diffraction. A particular aim of the CPD that I am very keen to continue is to encourage the teaching of powder diffraction in developing countries. We are keen to open up links of interest to powder diffractionists in the areas of electron, neutron and synchrotron diffraction, XAFS, small angle scattering and high pressure research.

The CPD has a very close relationship with the International Centre for Diffraction Data. The ICDD have over 15,000 people on their circulation list which illustrates the huge number of scientists engaged in powder diffraction. These people would not normally describe themselves as crystallographers but as materials scientists or chemists. It is the job of the CPD to draw together these groups, to encourage co-operation and collaboration, to accelerate the already phenomenal growth of the subject and to make new information available to everyone.

Web sites of general interest to powder diffractionists

CPD: http://www.iucr.ac.uk/iucr-top/comm/cpd/index.html
ICDD: http://www..icdd.com
IUCr: http://www.iucr.ac.uk/welcome.html
General Crystallography: http://www.unige.ch/crystal/w3vlc/crystal.index.html

Round robin

The status of the Commission on Powder Diffraction's Round Robin on quantitative Phase Analysis reports that 90 people have returned questionnaires volunteering to participate. The participants are predominantly X-ray diffraction users, 10 of which have access to neutron diffraction facilities.

Samples were sent out during the last quarter of 1997. Allowing some six months for the return of participant data, the preliminary results should be presented at either the EPDIC-6 or ECM-18 meetings in Aug. 1998. Final results will then be presented at the 18th Congress of the IUCr in Glasgow, Aug. 1999.

The samples supplied to participants will now consist of:

• Simple - Corundum (Al203) + Zincite (ZnO) + Fluorite (CaF2)
• Preferred Orientation -Corundum + Zincite + Fluorite + Brucite Mg(OH)2
• Amorphous - Corundum + Zincite + Fluorite + Glass (SiO2)
• Microabsorption - Corundum + Magnetite (Fe3O4) + Zircon (ZrSiO4)
• Granodiorite
• Synthetic Bauxite
• A mixture of Mannitol, Sucrose, Starch, Valine and Nizatidine, which should prove to be of interest to the pharmaceutical industry.

Individuals involved in the project include: L. Cranswick, E. Groleau, M. Aylmore, N. Agron-Olshina, R. Hill, D. Smith and J. Fiala.

For more information, contact: I. Madsen, CSIRO Minerals, Box 312, Clayton South 3169, Victoria, Australia, E-mail: ian.madsen@minerals.csiro.au