Engineering and innovative processes and techniques for the conservation of cultural heritage

In this paper, engineering and innovative processes and techniques for the conservation of cultural heritage are presented. In particular, the ancient artifacts are coated with polymeric mixtures diluted in water, treated by acoustic levitation, displayed on a FT-IR microscope, heated in a specific glass bell and lastly analyzed by InfraRed (IR) spectroscopy. On one side, the innovation of the acoustic levitation permits a better penetration of the polymeric solution during the treatment of the sample, on the other to follow the polymeric drying process in the function of time. Furthermore, IR spectroscopy technique is employed to understand what is happening inside the artifact and to evaluate the thermal response. This new engineering approach for the conservation and preservation of cultural heritage has been shown to be rather valid and has been reported an application example on wood.