Morana Novak

PhD student, University College London

Project Title 

Thinking out of the box - modelling preventive conservation benefits of boxes

Background & Summary of Project

It is a common, cost-effective and environmental friendly practice in conservation field to use boxes for protection of valuable objects against external factors, e.g. T/RH flunctuations, light, pollutants, pests, and also from internal factors (degradation products, pollutants that are emitted by object itself). However, it is still not known what type of boxes (standard cardboard boxes or new materials that are used in field of smart packaging) offer best protection for different types of heritage objects (paper, plastics) and in what environmental conditions. This project will implement different methods such as environmental monitoring, modelling, laboratory and accelerated ageing experiments to answer several research questions: what new materials exist that could improve protection properties of boxes, what is the role of boxes in catastrophic events, can protective properties of boxes be modelled, and what kind of chemical protection do boxes offer (VOC absorption, reduction of T/RH flunctuations, antifungal activity).

Partners

• The London Metropolitan Archives
• Conservation by Design (CXD)

Publications 

Miljanić, Snežana & Kenđel, Adriana & Novak, Morana & Deliqeorqiev, Todor & Crnolatac, Ivo & Piantanida, Ivo & Chis, Vasile. (2016). Distinguishing binding modes of a new phosphonium dye with DNA by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. RSC Adv.. 6. 41927-41936.