Materials for Conservation (Butterworth-Heinemann Series in Conservation and Museology)

The definitive introduction to the properties of materials used in conservation. It explains clearly the potentials and pitfalls of any proposed technique, providing a convenient summary of necessary information.

The continual struggle of conservators to ameliorate the deterioration of objects has led to increasing use of synthetic polymers. These materials are part of the sophisticated technology that has been developed to augment and often replace traditional materials and methods. Conservators therefore have a wider range of techniques available. However, they must be able to appreciate the potentials and pitfalls of any proposed technique. This book provides, in a convenient form, a summary of necessary information. The first section explains physical and chemical properties which are important in the conservation process, i.e. application, ageing, reversal. The topics covered include molecular weight, glass transition temperature, solubility and solvents, polymerisation and degradation reactions. The second section provides detailed consideration of the individual materials, current and obsolete, used in conservation, drawing out the factors relevant to their effects on objects. The conservation uses of each material are summarised and referenced to allow further study. In five appendices, the properties of the polymers, solvents and their interactions are tabulated, with a list of suppliers and conversion table of physical units. IUPAC and SI nomenclature is used throughout the book.