Develop A New Type Of "green" Gel For Cleaning Artistic Paintings

This research focuses on the development and evaluation of the cleaning performances of the new cleaning systems.Traditional cleaning methods such as solvents cleaning are uncontrolled and unselective,besides,the solvents used may be toxic.Recently,new green organogels obtained with a polymer derived from bio-compatible components,poly-3-hydroxybutyrate,and different green solvents(?-valerolactone GVL,ethyl lactate EL,dimethyl carbonate DMC)were developed as effective cleaning tools for the removal of the varnishes over the artworks without affecting the pictorial layer,gel systems allow hosting solvent with different polarity to remove different kinds of varnish.To improve the mechanical properties as well as the cleaning efficiency,the present research work was focused on the evaluation of new gel systems based on the combination of PHB-based gel and electrospun nanofibers.In particular,electrospinning polymer(Polyvinyl alcohol PVA,Nylon)in combination with green organogels of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate with the solvent ?-valerolactone applied to the removal of dammar varnish from artworks were tested.The treated areas where characterized before and after cleaning by using Optical Microscope observation of paint cross-sections under visible and ultraviolet light and ?FTIR-Attenuated Total Reflection surface analyses for evaluating the cleaning efficiency(assess the varnish removal capability).Moreover,SEM was used for characterization of the gels morphology before and after cleaning,Head Space-Solid Phase Micro Extraction coupled with GC-MS analyses and TGA analyses were applied for evaluation of solvent retention and the release of residues on the treated surfaces.In this research,the combined gel showed good mechanical properties.The results showed the combined gel has a good ability to remove the dammar varnish.