Morana RTD company is a research intensive micro-company, which specialises in
the development of applications for non-destructive identification and
characterisation of materials.
Morana NIR
is a set of specialised, highly innovative applications, which enable collection
keepers and conservators in heritage institutions to identify or characterize
materials on-site.
Analysis is non-destructive, simple, rapid and versatile, as a number of
different materials and properties can be evaluated using one portable Near
Infra-Red Spectrometer. All these features make MORANA NIR a unique product in
the field of heritage preservation.
Uses of Morana NIR:
- Determination of the condition and properties, such as acidity, of artefacts
in order to design conservation treatments;
- Identification of materials, whose deterioration will affect the stability of
other artefacts and should therefore be stored separately;
- Evaluation of the quality of materials used for conservation;
- Surveying of the collections in order to develop optimal preservation
programmes.
Available applications:
- Identification of plastics (developed within 7th FP PopArt)
- Characterisation of rag paper (Degree of polymerisation, pH)
- Characterisation of paper (Degree of polymerisation/average molar mass, pH,
mechanical properties, date); planned release Autumn 2012
- Parchment (shrinkage temperature, date); planned release January 2013
Morana Services
Services include design of surveying protocol, chemical analysis of heritage
materials and development of conservation processes. Workshops are delivered on
various topics such as use of NIR spectroscopy, iron gall ink stabilisation and
preservation.
Community
Morana RTD is the home of e-Preservation Science, a web based scientific journal
with free online access. Published since 2004.
You can support the effort by ordering a hard copy edition (150 EUR/year).