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The Use of a Natural Polysaccharide as a Solidifying Agent and Color-Fixing Agent on Modern Paper and Historical Materials

Authors :
Bellesi, Lucia Emanuele
Tanja Dujaković
Graziella Roselli
Simone Campanelli
Giulia
Source :
Organics; Volume 4; Issue 2; Pages: 265-276
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2023.

Abstract

This article presents results on the use of a new material as a solidifying agent and/or color-fixing agent. A special polysaccharide material extracted from the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica) was tested on historical materials and modern papers. An old book from the 18th century was chosen as historical material. From the mentioned book 42 pages were taken, on which a conservation and restoration pretreatment was performed before applying the polysaccharide material: sampling, fiber analysis, dry cleaning, ink solubility, pH test, thickness measurement and wet cleaning. The paper sheets provided for the test were divided into 4 groups, 3 of which were treated with gel and one left untreated as a reference. The division into groups is not only due to the different method of application, but also due to the process of gel extraction. The effect of the treatment was analyzed using FTIR-ATR. To test the mucilage as color-fixing agent 2 samples were prepared using watercolor papers colored with 6 different watercolors applied to 2.5 cm2 samples for each color in two rows of different intensity. One of the 2 samples was treated with gel, but both were immersed for 3 times in a water-ethanol solution for approximately 20 min as is standard practice in conservation and restoration. After washing, both specimens were subjected to colorimetric analysis to assess their differences. The results provided satisfactory evidence for the protection of paints sensitive to aqueous treatments and suggest the use of mucilage as a new material in cleaning method for water-soluble media.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2673401X
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Organics; Volume 4; Issue 2; Pages: 265-276
Accession number :
edsair.multidiscipl..6b1b9bda5f7103c8fcda09fc40ea431f
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/org4020021