A very interesting use of nuclear technology in the field of art is in heritage conservation. For art conservationists all over the world, it is a big challenge to conserve and restore a deteriorating piece of art. The environmental effects as well as contamination by insects, fungi etc. pose imminent danger to a rare piece of art. By permeating the art work with a chemical and then performing gamma radiation on it, it is possible to produce the consolidation of the piece by polymerization, while at the same time eliminating the biological contamination by sterilization. Similarly, the Carbon-14 dating technique is used to determine the age of works of art. The authenticity of artworks can also be determined through non-destructive analyses. Carbon dating is also used extensively in archaeology for age determination of ancient and pre-historic sites and artefacts.
Thursday, June 25, 2020
