Polymerization under microgravity: Results and prospects

Frontal photopolymerization of polyacrylamide gel is theoretically and expe rimentally investigated under conditions of microgravity. With the help of optical methods, the conversion field of monomer is visualized in the cours e of the experiment, and the pattern of a reaction front motion is determin ed. The comparison of the properties of flight and laboratory samples of ge l allows us to conclude that carrying out polymerization onboard an orbital station in order to obtain homogeneous polymeric materials is promising.