Electrostatic Self-assembly Demonstration (ESD)
Research Area: Student-Developed Investigations
Expedition(s): 10 and 11
Principal Investigator: ● W. Carey, ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Electrostatic Self-assembly Demonstration (ESD)
education experiment is aimed at demonstrating the
electrostatic self-assembly of 2 different types of
macroscopic spheres of identical dimensions to create
different molecular structures in weightless conditions
aboard the International Space Station by means of filming 3
demonstrations. Comparable on-ground experiments were
performed and filmed in order to familiarize students with
the differences between the Earth and space environments.
RESULTS
During the demonstration, organized structures of
PMMA/PTFE spheres were formed, but instead of forming one large 3-D cluster in the center of
the container as anticipated, numerous, smaller individual clusters were observed, the majority
of which attached themselves to the inner surfaces of the container. However, a small number
of 3-D structures were seen in the stills from the video sequences.
The contact electrification appeared to have charged the particles strongly such that they were
attracted to the inner surface of the container—this behavior had been observed during an
earlier parabolic flight test, but not to the extent visible during the ENEIDE Mission.
Footage of the “on-ground” and “in space” demonstrations were recorded, and the footage
used to develop an International Space Station DVD lesson, fitting the basic European science
and technology curriculum of the target age group: 12-18 year olds. The DVD was distributed in
12 languages to secondary school teachers in ESA Member States.
PUBLICATION(S)
AG Noordwijk. Project: Zero Gravity, Mission 3: Space Matters [DVD]. European Space Agency
ISS Education Office, The Netherlands; 2006.
Grzybowski BA, Winkleman A, Wiles JA, Brumer Y, Whitesides GM. Electrostatic self-assembly
of macroscopic crystals using contact electrification. Nature Materials. March 23,
2003;2(4):241-245. doi: 10.1038/nmat860.
This investigation is complete and all results are published.
Electrostatically assembled square
structure with 2 different types of spheres
alternating within the lattice. ESA image.