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Abstract In the context of bio-deterioration of cultural heritage, the Lavandula angustifolia Mill. plant proves to be of interest for a green approach to the preservation of art manufacts on organic media. Supercritical CO2 fluid extraction (SFE) was utilized to obtain both lavender essential oil (E2LS3) and hydrolate (E2LS3A), while ultrasound assisted maceration in n-hexane:ethanol (99:1, v:v) provided LA2/1 extract. The extracts, all chemically characterized by UHPLC-HRMS and GC–MS analyses, were screened for their antifungal capability towards six fungi isolated from the plywood support of Haim Steinbach's contemporary artwork "Un-color becomes alter ego #2" (1984). To this purpose, disk diffusion method was applied on both mycelium and conidial suspensions to unravel whether the inhibitory activity affects the growth of fungi at different life cycle stages. The micro-atmosphere method was also explored to assess the response of fungal growth in a saturated atmosphere. Data acquired highlighted that SFE-obtained lavender essential oil, whose oxygenated monoterpene part mostly accounting for terpinene-4-ol, borneol, linalool, camphor, and 1,8-cineole, proves to be a dose- and time-dependent inhibitor of fungal growth. It has also been shown that exposure to the oil vapor phase is more effective at very low dose levels. The promising results allow us to hypothesize the use of the essential oil for treating fungal colonization by exposure to its volatile components in a modified atmosphere environment, with no direct contact with the artwork. Graphical abstract

In the context of bio-deterioration of cultural heritage, the Lavandula angustifolia Mill. plant proves to be of interest for a green approach to the preservation of art manufacts on organic media. Supercritical CO2 fluid extraction (SFE) was utilized to obtain both lavender essential oil (E2LS3) and hydrolate (E2LS3A), while ultrasound assisted maceration in n-hexane:ethanol (99:1, v:v) provided LA2/1 extract. The extracts, all chemically characterized by UHPLC-HRMS and GC–MS analyses, were screened for their antifungal capability towards six fungi isolated from the plywood support of Haim Steinbach's contemporary artwork "Un-color becomes alter ego #2" (1984). To this purpose, disk diffusion method was applied on both mycelium and conidial suspensions to unravel whether the inhibitory activity affects the growth of fungi at different life cycle stages. The micro-atmosphere method was also explored to assess the response of fungal growth in a saturated atmosphere. Data acquired highlighted that SFE-obtained lavender essential oil, whose oxygenated monoterpene part mostly accounting for terpinene-4-ol, borneol, linalool, camphor, and 1,8-cineole, proves to be a dose- and time-dependent inhibitor of fungal growth. It has also been shown that exposure to the oil vapor phase is more effective at very low dose levels. The promising results allow us to hypothesize the use of the essential oil for treating fungal colonization by exposure to its volatile components in a modified atmosphere environment, with no direct contact with the artwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a novel, rapidly expanding diagnostic technique, which has been predominately developed in the context of contemporary biomedical research studies. In this review, we demonstrate how PA technologies can break through the barriers of biomedicine to find innovative applications in cultural heritage (CH) diagnostics and laser cleaning monitoring. Having over three orders of magnitude higher transmission through strongly scattering media, compared to light in the visible and near infrared, PA signals offer substantially improved detection sensitivity, providing optical absorption contrast at high spatial resolution. This unique combination of features is employed for establishing novel diagnostic methodologies aiming to uncover well-hidden features and provide structural information in multi-layered CH objects such as paintings and documents. Finally, we demonstrate that the PA effect can be successfully utilized for the reliable monitoring of laser cleaning interventions on stonework, allowing for a safe and well-controlled cleaning procedure which will safeguard CH objects’ original surfaces. Simplicity of implementation, effectiveness and low-cost features provided by the developed diagnostic and monitoring systems, highlight the rich potential of emerging PA technologies in CH studies and offer exciting possibilities for future implementations.

Abstract Employing an economical and non-destructive method for identifying pigments utilized in artworks is a significant aspect for preserving their antiquity value. One of the non-destructive methods for this purpose is spectrophotometry, which is based on the selected absorption of light. Mathematical descriptive methods such as derivatives of the reflectance spectrum, the Kubelka–Munk function and logarithm have been employed for the characterization of the peak features corresponding to the spectrophotometric data. In the present study, the mentioned mathematical descriptive methods were investigated with the aim to characterize the constituents of an Iranian artwork but were not efficient for the samples. Therefore, inverse tangent derivative equation was developed on spectral data for the first time, providing considerable details in the profile of reflectance curves. In the next part, to have a simpler and more practical method it was suggested to use filters made up of pure pigments. By using these filters and placing them on the samples, imaging was done. Then, images of samples with and without filter were evaluated and pure pigments were distinguished. The mentioned methods were also used to identify pigments in a modern Iranian painting specimen. The results confirmed these methods with reliable answers indicating that physical methods (alongside chemical methods) can also be effective in determining the types of pigments.

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a novel, rapidly expanding diagnostic technique, which has been predominately developed in the context of contemporary biomedical research studies. In this review, we demonstrate how PA technologies can break through the barriers of biomedicine to find innovative applications in cultural heritage (CH) diagnostics and laser cleaning monitoring. Having over three orders of magnitude higher transmission through strongly scattering media, compared to light in the visible and near infrared, PA signals offer substantially improved detection sensitivity, providing optical absorption contrast at high spatial resolution. This unique combination of features is employed for establishing novel diagnostic methodologies aiming to uncover well-hidden features and provide structural information in multi-layered CH objects such as paintings and documents. Finally, we demonstrate that the PA effect can be successfully utilized for the reliable monitoring of laser cleaning interventions on stonework, allowing for a safe and well-controlled cleaning procedure which will safeguard CH objects' original surfaces. Simplicity of implementation, effectiveness and low-cost features provided by the developed diagnostic and monitoring systems, highlight the rich potential of emerging PA technologies in CH studies and offer exciting possibilities for future implementations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing an economical and non-destructive method for identifying pigments utilized in artworks is a significant aspect for preserving their antiquity value. One of the non-destructive methods for this purpose is spectrophotometry, which is based on the selected absorption of light. Mathematical descriptive methods such as derivatives of the reflectance spectrum, the Kubelka–Munk function and logarithm have been employed for the characterization of the peak features corresponding to the spectrophotometric data. In the present study, the mentioned mathematical descriptive methods were investigated with the aim to characterize the constituents of an Iranian artwork but were not efficient for the samples. Therefore, inverse tangent derivative equation was developed on spectral data for the first time, providing considerable details in the profile of reflectance curves. In the next part, to have a simpler and more practical method it was suggested to use filters made up of pure pigments. By using these filters and placing them on the samples, imaging was done. Then, images of samples with and without filter were evaluated and pure pigments were distinguished. The mentioned methods were also used to identify pigments in a modern Iranian painting specimen. The results confirmed these methods with reliable answers indicating that physical methods (alongside chemical methods) can also be effective in determining the types of pigments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]