Raman and ATR FT-IR investigations of innovative silica nanocontainers loaded with a biocide for stone conservation treatments

In the last years, significant research efforts have been devoted to the reduction of the environmental impact of biocides and to the improvement of their effectiveness over time against degradation of stone artifacts. This work reports the spectroscopic characterization of two silica nanosystems, with different geometry and structure, loaded with a biologically-active compound, the 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT), for controlled antifouling release on the surface of outdoor stone artefacts. We have combined FT-IR spectroscopy in ATR mode and Raman spectroscopy to investigate the biocide loading mechanism in both nanosystems from the physical and chemical point of view. These techniques demonstrate that the geometry of confinement influences the loading of the nanoparticles and their interaction with the confining medium, with possible consequences in the biocide release rate. Moreover, we have seen that the biocide interacts with the surfactant (cetrimonium bromide, CTAB) and tends to dimerize.