Heritage Materials can be broadly categorized into two.  We can talk about the material make-up of an artefact - an object made out of glass, metal, ceramic, or indeed a combination of materials, as in a composite artefact.  A canvas painting would fall in this category of composite artefact. There are then the materials employed to conserve or restore Heritage Artefacts. These can be coatings, adhesives, consolidants and other support materials. 

 

Research at the Department of Metallurgy and Materials currently focuses on the latter group, more specifically the design and application of thin, transparent reversible coatings for corrosion protection of metallic objects such as plate armour. 

 

Another field of research deals with the design, application and testing of stone consolidants for our local Globigerina Limestone. A stone consolidant is a material that is applied to mechanically support deteriorating stone, while at the same time preserve the stone properties, such as colour and water transport through the stone pores.