The 4-year research project dubbed ConSOLIDATe concerns the ‘Controlled Study Of Light Induced Degradation by Advancing Technology’ and is co-funded by AstraZeneca, AkzoNobel, and the Cultural Heritage Agency. It is the follow-up of the successful 'TooCOLD' project in which a toolbox for studying the chemistry of light-induced degradation of materials was developed.
ConSOLIDATe will combine advanced analytical instrumentation, light-exposure technology and sophisticated data-analysis techniques to provide fundamental insights into the light-degradation mechanisms of essential compounds in various materials. Light degradation is of crucial interest for the stability of pharmaceuticals, the degradation of dyes in art work, the function of polymers, and the production of drinking water. The project will be coordinated by Maarten van Bommel, professor of Conservation Science at UvA. The team further consists of Prof. Govert Somsen and Dr Freek Ariese from the Division of Bioanalytical Chemistry and the Section Biophotonics and Medical Imaging of VU, respectively, and Dr Saer Samanipour and Dr Bob Pirok from the Analytical Chemistry Group at HIMS-UvA.