The polycrystalline and nanocrystalline states play an increasingly important role in
exploiting the properties of materials encompassing applications as diverse as pharmaceuticals
catalysts solar cells and energy storage. A knowledge of the three-dimensional atomic and
molecular structure of materials is essential for understanding and controlling their
properties yet traditional single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods lose their power when only
polycrystalline and nanocrystalline samples are available. It is here that powder diffraction
and single-crystal electron diffraction techniques take over substantially extending the range
of applicability of the crystallographic principles of structure determination. This volume a
collection of teaching contributions presented at the Crystallographic Course in Erice in 2011
clearly describes the fundamentals and the state-of-the-art of powder diffraction and electron
diffraction methods in materials characterisation encompassing a diverse range of disciplines
and materials stretching from archeometry to zeolites. As such it is a comprehensive and
valuable resource for those wishing to gain an understanding of the broad applicability of
these two rapidly developing fields.
