oa Preservation Of Cultural Heritage Artifacts In Qatar Using Nanotechnology

Qatar is experiencing rapid economic and population growth, which has resulted in new challenges. According to Qatar's national vision, sustainable development is one of the key factors to bridge the gap between current and future generations and includes a variety of development routes, including the development of both innovative technologies as well as cultural institutions. The deterioration of cultural heritage objects is one of the most critical problems for fields in the humanities and social sciences. Preserving cultural artifacts is crucial to understand the past of a nation as it provides us a unique window into the history and culture of that nation. The preservation and restoration of cultural heritage objects which are in danger of being lost from a variety of factors including environmental degradation adds to the overall value of the global human culture and keeps it alive for future generations. Our research focuses developing materials that can be used to support cultural institutions in Qatar while also supporting the development of innovative technologies. In addition to supporting the preservation and conservation of cultural institutions and their collections in Qatar, this research also opened doors to the development of cutting edge technology in Qatar with applications. Nanotechnology offers a cost-effective and nondestructive method to treat cultural heritage artifacts. We present the microwave-assisted synthesis and characterization of alkaline nanomaterials for the preservation of cultural heritage. Calcium and barium hydroxide nanomaterials suspended in aqueous as well as alcoholic medium were applied on different samples to check their effectiveness. The effect of treatment was measured using pH value and alkaline reserve test. The alkaline reserve test results indicate improvement in the alkaline buffer with significant reduction in acidity of the papers and improvement in pH value of the surfaces. Ethanol was found as best solvent on the basis of suspension of nanoparticles, pH value and ease of application through spray gun. Accelerated ageing test revealed that the reinforcement effect of these nanomaterials persisted throughout the ageing. All the results converged in individuating these nanometric particles as an innovative, completely compatible, and efficient material for the consolidation of old and new paper surfaces.