I-Corps: Atomic Layer Deposited Films for Protection of Precious Silver Objects

在大都会艺术博物馆（Metropolitan Museum of Art）等大大小小的文化遗产机构中，顾客们保管着数千件银器。目前的防腐方法包括手动应用聚合硝化纤维素，它可以保护物体10-20年，根据物体的大小和复杂程度，每个物体可能需要3到40个小时。相对较短的薄膜寿命和较长的应用过程使博物馆中成千上万的银质物品处于不断更换塑料涂层的循环中，或者使许多物品得不到保护。由I-Corps团队开发的原子层沉积（ALD）涂层有望满足博物馆、档案馆和图书馆等文化遗产机构以及工匠或珠宝零售商等高级银饰制造商的严格要求。ALD薄膜将允许对文物进行长期保护，因为它们对银的保护时间比目前使用的涂层技术（使用硝化纤维薄膜）要长得多。通过减少失去光泽的数量和抛光的频率，物体可以保存更长时间，而不会丢失原始表面细节。这项I-Corps拨款将允许ALD涂层技术转移到文化遗产和博物馆保护社区。作为这项技术转让的一部分，该团队还将更好地了解ALD金属氧化物膜如何影响衬底的化学结构和视觉特性。虽然ALD薄膜应用于清洁、平坦的2D表面已经得到了很好的理解，但在粗糙的3D物体上使用ALD薄膜的效果已经完成了很少的工作。通过I-CORPS项目获得的知识和经验，将通过拟议的与马里兰大学克拉克工程学院、创业与创新项目以及欣曼首席执行官项目的研讨会，与其他潜在的企业家和学生分享。这次研讨会将进一步将通过I-CORPS获得的知识传播给马里兰大学其他具有创业精神的学生。

Customers in cultural heritage institutions, both large and small facilities, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, hold thousands of silver objects under their care. The current method for corrosion protection includes the manual application of polymeric nitrocellulose, which protects objects for 10-20 years and can take 3 to 40 more hours per object depending on its size and complexity. The relatively short film lifetime and long application process leaves museums with thousands of silver objects in a constant cycle of replacing plastic coatings or leaving many objects unprotected. The proposed atomic layer deposited (ALD) coating developed by this I-Corps team is expected to fulfill the rigorous requirements required by cultural heritage institutions such as museums, archives and libraries, and fine silver jewelry manufacturers such as artisans or jewelry retailers.ALD films will allow for the long term protection of cultural heritage objects, as they protect silver significantly longer than the current coating technology, applying nitrocellulose films. By reducing the amount of tarnishing and frequency of polishing, objects can be preserved longer without loss of original surface details. This I-Corps grant will allow ALD coating technology to be transferred to the cultural heritage and museum conservation community. As part of this technology transfer, the team will also develop a better understanding of how ALD metal oxide films affect the chemical structure and visual characteristics of the substrate. While ALD films applied to clean, flat, 2D surfaces is well understood, little work has been completed on the effect of using ALD films on rough, 3D objects with prior surface treatments. The knowledge and experience gained through the I-CORPS program will be shared with other potential entrepreneurs and students through a proposed seminar with the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, and Hinman CEOs program. This seminar would further disseminate the knowledge gained through I-CORPS to other entrepreneurially-minded students at the University of Maryland.