Nanomaterials in art conservation

The preservation and transfer of cultural identities and heritage to future generations is everyone's responsibility. A review on the social and economic value of cultural heritage published in 2014 by the European Expert Network on Culture concluded that cultural heritage is a strategic resource for a sustainable Europe: if properly managed, it can enhance social inclusion and cohesion, encourage intercultural dialogue, improve the quality of the immediate living environment, and stimulate tourism1. The best way to realize these benefits is to increase access to cultural heritage through digital means and public engagement1. However, access is possible only if the original artefacts are properly conserved, stored and displayed. Therefore, developing new conservation techniques that are readily available, inexpensive and easy to apply is vital to maintaining access. Conservation should tackle a multitude of degradation processes arising from environmental factors, physical erosion and microorganisms, as well as handling and wrecking. Although the preservation of cultural heritage involves a different code of ethics2, it can be compared to medicine, where artefacts are analogous to patients and conservators are similar to doctors. Diagnosis, treatment and prevention are relevant to the conservation of artefacts, and science has contributed to such activities. Although much effort has been dedicated to preventive conservation and to the development of advanced diagnostic techniques, only a relatively small part of conservation science has focused on 'therapy' — that is, the production of innovative materials that can be applied to works of art to repair and restore them. Nanoscience is a unique resource to conservation because, unlike conventional materials such as polymers that are commonly used in conservation, engineered nanomaterials do not alter the original physical and chemical properties of artefacts and have low environmental impact3. Here, we highlight the role of hard (inorganic nanocrystals) and soft (built from molecular blocks) nanomaterials in revolutionizing the technical approaches to heritage conservation.