Phase transitions in colloids under microgravity

ORAL

Abstract

Research on colloids is motivated by several factors. They can be used to answer fundamental questions related to the assembly of materials, and they have many potential applications in electronics, photonics, and life sciences. However, the rich variety of colloidal structures observed on the Earth can be influenced by the effects of gravity, which leads to particles settling and the motion of the surrounding fluid. To suppress the gravity effects, experiments on concentrated colloids of spherical and ellipsoidal fluorescent particles were carried out aboard the International Space Station. The particles were suspended in a decalin/tetralin mixture to match the particle refractive index. Confocal microscopy was used to visualize the particle behavior.

*The work was supported by NSF CBET grants 1832260 and 1832291, NASA grants 80NSSC19K1655 and NNX13AR67G, and Glenn Engineering and Research Support (GEARS) Contract Number: 80GRC020D0003.

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Presenters

  • Boris Khusid

    • New Jersey Institute of Technology

Authors

  • Boris Khusid

    • New Jersey Institute of Technology

  • Qian Lei

    • New Jersey Institute of Technology

  • Lou Kondic

    • New Jersey Institute of Technology
    • Department of Mathematical Sciences and Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics, New Jersey Institute of Technology
    • Department of Mathematical Sciences and Center for Applied Mathematics and Statistics, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA

  • Paul M Chaikin

    • Center for Soft Matter Research, New York University
    • New York University
    • Center for Soft Matter Research, Physics, New York University
    • New York Univ NYU

  • Andrew David Hollingsworth

    • New York Univ NYU
    • New York University

  • Alton Reich

    • Streamline Automation LLC

  • William Meyer

    • Universities Space Research Association at NASA GRC