Holloway M. Synthesizing Materials in Microgravity...2025

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Synthesizing Materials in Microgravity: Unlocking Novel Materials Beyond Earth's Limits reveals how space-based environments unlock breakthroughs in material design by eliminating Earth’s gravitational constraints. On Earth, gravity induces convection, sedimentation, and pressure gradients that compromise material quality during crystallization, solidification, polymerization, and sintering. In microgravity, such as aboard the ISS, these forces are minimized, enabling precise control of atomic arrangements, phase transitions, and microstructure formation. The result: materials with superior structural, electrical, and thermal properties once thought unattainable