9526499 Wheeler This Americas Program award will support collaborative research between Drs. George Segan Wheeler and Elizabeth Stevenson Goins of the Sherman Fairchild Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Dr. J. C. Brinker, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Dr. Juan Mendez Vivar, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana- Iztapalapa, Mexico. The primary scientific objective of the project is the development and study of sol-gel materials and coupling agents for strengthening limestone. The past performance of sol-gel-derived strengthening agents, (referred to as consolidants), on limestone has been poor because of the lack of adhesion between the gels and the grains of calcite comprising the limestone. This project will examine the ability of organoalkoxysilanes to serve as adhesion promoters between calcite and inorganic gels. An important, long-term benefit can accrue from the development of these consolidants by extending the life of a significant portion of Mexican and United States architectural and sculptural heritage represented in limestone. This heritage is at serious risk due to the high susceptibility of limestone to degradation by acid rain as well as other deterioration processes. ***
