Biocleaning of historical metal artworks: innovative green gels amended with microbial derivatives

The research study is aimed to design innovative bio-gel formulations able to tackle altered historical metal artworks in a green and sustainable perspective. The target of the research is the removal of undesired or altered materials of both inorganic (i.e., corrosion and tarnishing) and organic nature (i.e., protective coatings). The designed gel systems are initially assessed on mock-ups. Iron-, copper- and silver-based substrates, chosen as mostly present in historical metal collections, are chemically aged to form corrosion on the surface. Alternatively, they are coated with organic protectives (i.e., acrylic and nitrocellulose varnish) that are mostly used for indoor metal care. After multi-modal analytical assessment to check the action and safety of the gels on the metal mock-ups, the developed solutions are applied on real cases, thanks to the strong and fruitful collaboration with curators and conservators of metal artworks.

[1]  E. Guilminot,et al.  Testing of the siderophore deferoxamine amended in hydrogels for the cleaning of iron corrosion , 2023, The European Physical Journal Plus.

[2]  E. Guilminot,et al.  The Use of Hydrogels in the Treatment of Metal Cultural Heritage Objects , 2023, Gels.

[3]  M. Remelli,et al.  Deferoxamine B: A Natural, Excellent and Versatile Metal Chelator , 2021, Molecules.

[4]  E. Guilminot,et al.  Biologically Derived Gels for the Cleaning of Historical and Artistic Metal Heritage , 2021, Applied Sciences.

[5]  B. Blümich,et al.  Cleaning oil paintings: NMR relaxometry and SPME to evaluate the effects of green solvents and innovative green gels , 2019, New Journal of Chemistry.

[6]  Carrigan J. Hayes,et al.  Chemistry and Art: Removal of Graffiti Ink from Paints Grounded in a Real-Life Scenario , 2018 .

[7]  P. Junier,et al.  Microbial biotechnology approaches to mitigating the deterioration of construction and heritage materials , 2017, Microbial biotechnology.

[8]  Y. Ju,et al.  Microbial production of four biodegradable siderophores under submerged fermentation. , 2016, International journal of biological macromolecules.

[9]  M. Epple,et al.  Silver as antibacterial agent: ion, nanoparticle, and metal. , 2013, Angewandte Chemie.

[10]  Bernd Nowack,et al.  Biodegradation and speciation of residual SS-ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS) in soil solution left after soil washing. , 2006, Environmental pollution.

[11]  C. Oviedo,et al.  EDTA: the chelating agent under environmental scrutiny , 2003 .

[12]  M. Giannoulaki,et al.  Organic Green Corrosion Inhibitors Derived from Natural and/or Biological Sources for Conservation of Metals Cultural Heritage , 2021, Microorganisms in the Deterioration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage.

[13]  E. Joseph,et al.  Siderophores: From natural roles to potential applications. , 2019, Advances in applied microbiology.