{"id":446,"date":"2022-09-29T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/molecular-science-engineering\/?p=446"},"modified":"2022-09-23T09:09:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T08:09:05","slug":"conservation-of-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/molecular-science-engineering\/2022\/09\/29\/conservation-of-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservation of materials in a changing world"},"content":{"rendered":"

How can we prevent damage to old objects when the environment around them is changing? Imperial College London and the Victoria and Albert Museum<\/a> are collaborating to solve new questions in the conservation of materials.<\/p>\n

On 7 September, the Science and Engineering Research for Cultural Heritage<\/a> network organised a collaborative workshop with the conservation team at the V&A<\/a>. The goal was to brainstorm areas where Imperial scientists and engineers could collaborate with museum conservators and scientists, in order to solve problems in conserving cultural heritage objects.<\/p>\n

\"A
Roman glass being analysed by a handheld XRF analyser. XRF identifies elemental composition, which is essential for conservation of materials. \u00a9V&A<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Conservation of materials<\/h2>\n

Conservation is the practice of looking after cultural heritage objects to preserve them for future generations. These objects might degrade due to light exposure, humidity, mechanical damage, or due to long-term spontaneous processes happening in their materials, like glass disease<\/a>. Conservators try to prevent or slow damage occurring in the first place, or to stabilise damaged objects. It\u2019s not about making the object appear new, as often the damage is part of the story of the object. This obviously requires detailed knowledge of the object\u2019s materials and how they interact with light, water, heat or anything else in the local environment.<\/p>\n

Current conservation science questions<\/h2>\n

The V&A organised a mini-symposium where their staff presented their burning questions in conservation of materials.<\/p>\n

\"Looking
Pedro Gaspar, Head of Conservation at the V&A (L) and Ambrose Taylor, SERCH network lead (R) in the Hochhauser Auditorium at the V&A.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three major themes emerged:<\/p>\n