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short communications
According to Bertaut's theorem [Acta Cryst. (1950), 3, 14-18], the size distribution of a powder sample constituted by perfect single-crystal particles can be easily determined from the peak shape analysis. The comparison between particle size distributions determined by a Monte Carlo fitting algorithm and those determined by direct observation using transmission electron microscopy shows that, as expected, the X-ray diffraction determination cannot be confidently used for particles with maximum dimensions above about 60 nm.