19 hours ago by Mike Giannone European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 20 flight engineer, performs another two runs of the InSPACE-2 study, activating the Microgravity Science Glovebox and powering on the hardware in the Columbus module of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

They say good things come in small packages; sometimes so do exciting new discoveries.

From research into things that are one-billionth of a meter in size, near limitless engineering applications could result. Known as nano-particles, understanding these tiny items could result in new materials and manufacturing models, better energy producing systems, improved or new mechanical systems, enhanced films, fiber optics and other soft materials.

The Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions (InSPACE) series of experiments on the International Space Station explored nano-particles suspended in Magnetorheolocial (MR) fluidsa type of smart fluid that tends to self-assemble into shapes in the presence of a magnetic field. InSPACE research is supported by NASA's Space Life and Physical Sciences Division, which oversees space station research into basic and applied scientific studies in life and physical sciences.

Emerging from the InSPACE-2 investigation are findings that clarify details, confirm facts and sometimes surprise researchers.

The article titled 'Buckling Instability of Self-Assembled Colloidal Columns', published in the American Physical Society's Physical Review Letters on Sept. 26, 2014, is just the latest paper written by InSPACE researchers based on space station experiments. It explains the unexpected bucking phenomenon first observed in InSPACE-2.

When exposed to magnetic fields, MR fluids can transition into a nearly solid-like state. When the magnetic field is removed, the fluids disassemble and buckle. While the disassembling was expected, the buckling was something that surprised Eric Furst, Ph.D, principal investigator and a 20-plus-year veteran of colloidal research.

"We had never seen anything like this buckling in ground-based experiments," said Furst, of the University of Delaware, Newark.

Buckling is seenand properly designed to avoidin buildings and mechanical devices. However, this property had not been observed in MR fluids or more generally, in colloidal soft matter systems before now.

"There's a growing interest in buckling phenomena in terms of manipulating, in particular, soft materials," said Furst. "Whether we want to induce bucking or not, I'm not sure. That's the engineering question we have in front of us. What can we do with this really beautiful, physical, fundamental result?"

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