Research Summary

The project has its origin on the need felt by the national public archaeological authorities for the efficient preservation of Roman mosaics. The research aims at preparing new hybrid materials — Organically Modified Silicates — by ionising radiation techniques, for consolidation purposes, which could be used alone or as additives to existing composite materials used in mosaics conservation. These PDMS-silica based gels, hydrogels or composites with biocide content will be prepared by gamma irradiation, looking for the conjugation of important properties such as transparency, flexibility, robustness, water-repellent and anti-reflective properties as well as environment-resistance and bio-preventive properties.
The work will give particular emphasis to the characterisation of the mosaics, the optimisation of the hybrids properties by adjusting composition and irradiation parameters and the development of optimised application procedures for mosaics consolidation.

PhD Project title: Consolidation of Roman mosaics with functionalised hybrid materials.

Supervisors: Luís Miguel Mota Ferreira (C2TN-IST), João Paulo Freitas Coroado (Instituto Politécnico de Tomar), Virgílio Hipólito Correia (Museu Monográfico e Ruínas de Conimbriga)