Polymers and Adhesives for Stone Conservation | P18AS00389

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00389

The Polymers and Adhesives for Stone Conservation opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P18AS00389) is a National Park Service cooperative agreement under the U.S. Department of the Interior that focuses on improving materials and methods used to conserve historic stone, especially deteriorating marble and limestone. The effort is structured around taking promising polymer and sol-gel technologies that were previously developed with federal support and moving them closer to real-world conservation use by optimizing formulations, scaling them up, and validating performance through field trials on actual sites. In addition to technical outcomes, the project is also meant to serve an educational mission by deeply involving both graduate and undergraduate students in cultural heritage materials research and development.

A central goal is to optimize and field test a new polymer-based preservation system intended to stabilize and protect stone that is weathering or otherwise degrading. Rather than remaining at a lab-demonstration stage, the project emphasizes practical deployment: identifying suitable trial locations in coordination with the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), preparing larger batches of the coating system, and applying the coatings under field conditions. The field trials are designed to provide realistic feedback on how the coatings handle the environmental stresses that commonly affect stone in outdoor heritage contexts, such as moisture exposure, temperature swings, and general weathering, which can be difficult to replicate fully in the laboratory.

A second major focus is the development of improved stone-joining adhesives. The project seeks to explore new two-component epoxy adhesive systems that still deliver the core requirements conservation professionals rely on (strong adhesion and suitable handling characteristics), while improving two properties that often limit traditional commercial epoxies in heritage stone applications: long-term durability and water vapor transmission. Water vapor transmission is particularly important in stone conservation because overly impermeable adhesives or coatings can trap moisture within porous stone, potentially accelerating deterioration through freeze-thaw damage, salt crystallization, or other moisture-driven decay mechanisms. By targeting better moisture compatibility alongside durability, the work is aimed at producing adhesives that are both effective and more sympathetic to the way historic stone behaves.

Technically, the adhesive research is described as a hybrid system built from several components working together: an epoxy resin paired with an amine curing agent, combined with a sol-gel component, and reinforced at the nanoscale with reactive polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). Within that framework, the project outlines several specific exploration paths. It will evaluate aliphatic epoxy resins (often associated with different weathering and color stability behavior compared to other epoxy types), screen a wide variety of curing agents to tune performance, and test small additions of epoxy-functionalized POSS as an additive for nano-reinforcement. The inclusion of a sol-gel component is intended to create a hybrid sol-gel adhesive system, which can potentially balance mechanical strength with improved compatibility and transport properties, such as better moisture movement through or around the repaired area.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed under CFDA 15.945 and uses a cooperative agreement instrument, indicating an expectation of substantial involvement from the agency partner during the project. The listing also makes clear that this is not an open competition: it is a notice of intent to partner with North Dakota State University, and no applications will be accepted. The anticipated award is a single award with an award ceiling of $41,500, reflecting a targeted, project-specific collaboration rather than a broad solicitation. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a focused applied research and field validation effort to improve protective coatings and adhesives used in preserving culturally significant stone resources, while simultaneously training students in conservation-related polymer science.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Polymers and Adhesives for Stone Conservation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 02, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Notice of intent to partner with North Dakota State University. No applications will be accepted.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $41,500.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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