News

CERIC research awarded the silver medal in Chinese science contest

Location
14-20 August 2018, Chongqing – China

Research in the field of cultural heritage conducted by the youngest CERIC users landed to the other side of the globe, at the 33rd China Adolescents Science & Technology Innovation Contest.

Bor Kolar Bačnik, already winner of two golden medals at the 52nd Meeting of Young Researchers of Slovenia, and at the 2018 Genius Science Olympiad together with his schoolmate Mitja Denac, was again awarded in August 2018, with a silver medal at one of the biggest science contests for teenage students in China, wherein 88 different science projects were presented and evaluated: the 33rd China Adolescents Science & Technology Contest in Chongqing.

The research, which was supported by Gimnazija Vič, CERIC-ERIC (through the H2020 project ACCELERATE), the National and University Library – NUK in Ljubljana and the Pulp and Paper Institute in Ljubljana, focuses on preservation of historical books, paintings, and maps, where green pigment Verdigris was used. In fact, its darkening and corrosive effects on paper put documents in danger.

The goal of the study was to tackle this challenge by evaluating existing paper conservation treatments and developing new ones. To compare various stabilization techniques, Bor and Denac first prepared uniform and repeatable model papers with applied Verdigris. The pigment was pure and its application even. After accelerated aging of the samples, degradation of paper manifested in colour change and a decrease in fibre strength. However, samples treated with antioxidant showed a much lower degradation than non-treated ones, confirming the validity of the study and of the solution applied, also opening valuable chances for commercial exploitation.

Find here more information about the research and watch the video interview to Bor Kolar Bačnik and Mitja Denac at the Science in the City Festival at ESOF 2018 in Toulouse.