Résumé
The Physics of Colloids in Space (PCS) experiment is scheduled to be conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) in the year 2000. The broader objective is to study physics of colloidal particles dispersed in a fluid. This includes nucleation and growth of colloidal crystals and behavior of binary colloidal crystal alloys. The structure and properties of colloidal particles with attractive interactions (depletion interactions) induced by the addition of a nonadsorbing polymer, behavior of large-scale fractal aggregates, and gels will also be studied. A multipurpose light scattering apparatus will be employed in these studies. This apparatus is capable of performing dynamic light scattering (DLS), static light scattering (SLS), and Bragg scattering experiments. The flight experiment hardware will be located on the EXPRESS rack mounted in the ISS U.S. Laboratory Module. It is anticipated that the long-term benefit of this research will be to fabricate novel materials that may have applications in opto-electronic display technology. Materials could be fabricated that could act as light switches and could control the direction or color of the displayed light. (Author)