Creating Space Materials - Unobtainium
Unobtainium
Scientists have started a project which could see new materials emerge that are impossible to create on Earth.
The experiment will take place in 2021 and will focus on complex fluids.
Complex Fluids
Complex fluids are mixtures with 2 states of matter. They can be solid-liquid (suspensions), solid-gas (granular) , liquid-gas (foams) or liquid-liquid (emulsions).This experiment will focus on suspensions, where the fluid is formed by adding fine particles to a liquid.
On Earth, gravity tends to cause particles to separate according to their weight and so heavy particles sink to the bottom of liquids to create sediment, while lighter particles float to the top of the mixture. This makes the production of some materials with specific properties very hard.
By vibrating and heating complex fluids in a very low gravity environment, researchers will be able to study how the fine particles form ordered structures as gravity will not cause them to sink or float as it normally does. This may lead to us seeing materials with properties that weren't possible to create on Earth.
Unobtainium is the name given to fictional and impossible materials. Engineers think this experiment is a big step towards actually creating some of these impossible materials.
https://www.strath.ac.uk/whystrathclyde/news/strathclydeexperimentsheadingtointernationalspacestation/
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