Biologically Derived Gels for the Cleaning of Historical and Artistic Metal Heritage
Source abstract
Abstract
In the general global rise of attention and research to seek greener attitudes, the field of cultural heritage (CH) makes no exception. In the last decades, an increasing number of sustainable and biologically based solutions have been proposed for the protection and care of artworks. Additionally, the safety of the target artwork and the operator must be kept as core goals. Within this scenario, new products and treatments should be explored and implemented in the common conservation praxes. Therefore, this review addressing metal heritage is aimed to report biologically derived gel formulations already proposed for this specific area as reliable tools for cleaning. Promising bio-gel-based protocols, still to be implemented in metal conservation, are also presented to promote their investigation by stakeholders in metal conservation. After an opening overview on the common practices for cleaning metallic surfaces in CH, the focus will be moved onto the potentialities of gel-alternatives and in particular of ones with a biological origin. In more detail, we displayed water-gels (i.e., hydrogels) and solvent-gels (i.e., organogels) together with particular attention to bio-solvents. The discussion is closed in light of the state-of-the-art and future perspectives.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering · Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition · Building materials and conservation
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Haute Ecole Arc Conservation-Restauration, HES-SO, Espace de l’Europe 11, 2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland
Laboratory of Technologies for Heritage Materials, Institute of Chemistry, University of Neuchâtel, Av. Bellevaux 51, 2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland
Department of Chemistry, University of Bologna, Ravenna Campus, via Guaccimanni, 48120 Ravenna, Italy
Arc’Antique conservation and research laboratory, 26 Rue de la Haute Forêt, 44300 Nantes, France
Funding
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
References (100+)
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