My current research interests focus on the characterisation of particulate materials and material surfaces. I have developed a number of novel and leading edge methods for determining a range of surface and bulk physicochemical properties of powders and particulate materials including mechanical, topographical and surface properties. Recent studies have included micromechanical measurement of single particles, such as hydrogels, plant cells and microcapsules. The use of inverse gas chromatography (IGC) for characterising surface properties of particulate materials is currently gaining widespread interest in the pharmaceutical, food and polymer industries. IGC allows surface energy, heterogeneity,Tg, diffusion and absorption phenomena to be studied as a function of variables including temperature and relative humidity. Recent advances in gravimetric charactisation methods have also been well received, especially the water sorption characterisation of many classes of materials, especially pharmaceuticals and foods. Current and new project areas include: