Crystallization kinetics of a colloid-polymer system with depletion interaction

Synopsis

Compared to hard-sphere systems, colloid-polymer systems with depletion interaction ex-hibit richer and interesting phases. This project investigated the crystallization kinetics ofcolloidal crystals in a colloid-polymer system at co-existence in microgravity environment on-board the International Space Station (ISS). With experimental hardware onboard the ISS, time-lapse images of colloid-polymer samples as they crystallized were captured and sent to Earth. Python scripts were developed to extract and analyze data from these images. We observed the increase of crystallization parameters at early times and a saturation at late times, similar to observations from other previously studied systems. Keywords: Depletion interaction, hard sphere system, colloid-polymer system, crystalliza-
tion, co-existence