Abstract

Removing unwanted materials, such as organic coatings and soil, from the cultural relic surface is a complex and significant task in the field of cultural heritage conservation. Microemulsion-loaded gel can effectively and safely remove those organic coatings and soil. Here, we employed a simple solvent exchange strategy to prepare a microemulsion-loaded polyvinyl alcohol/polyethyleneimine (PVA/PEI) hydrogel. First, PVA and PEI were dissolved into DMSO to form a gel. Then, the gel was immersed into a microemulsion composed of water, ethyl acetate, propylene carbonate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and 1-pentanol to exchange DMSO. Microemulsion-loaded PVA/PEI hydrogel can be synthesized by completely substituting DMSO. To investigate the microstructure, rheological properties, and mechanical properties of the gel, scanning electron microscopy, a rheometer, and a universal testing machine were used, respectively. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis was conducted to explore the synthesis mechanism and confirm the successful loading of microemulsion within the microemulsion-loaded PVA/PEI hydrogel. Furthermore, FT-IR, a depth-of-field microscope, and a glossmeter were utilized to evaluate the cleaning efficiency of the microemulsion-loaded PVA/PEI hydrogel for removing animal glue and soil from the surfaces of cultural relics. Moreover, an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used to analyze the element component of the ancient coin. The application results showed that the microemulsion-loaded PVA/PEI hydrogel can effectively remove animal glue from an ancient wall painting surface. Moreover, it is capable of removing soil from an ancient coin surface as well, which helped to confirm the age of the coin. This offers a novel method to prepare microemulsion-loaded hydrogel and demonstrates great potential in the cleaning for cultural heritage.

Details

Title
Preparing a microemulsion-loaded hydrogel for cleaning wall paintings and coins
Author
Zhu, Jinmeng 1 ; Wang, Jiapeng 2 ; Wang, Jia 3 ; Ding, Jinghan 4 ; Zhao, Xichen 5 ; Dong, Wenqiang 6 ; Lu, Zhiyong 3 ; Li, Xuanhua 7 

 Northwestern Polytechnical University, NPU Institute of Culture and Heritage, Key Laboratory of Archaeological Exploration and Cultural Heritage Conservation Technology (Northwestern Polytechnical University), Ministry of Education, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.440588.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 0307 1240); Key Scientific Research Base of Conservation & Restoration for Mural As Collection and Materials Science in State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.440588.5) 
 Xi’an Technological University, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (GRID:grid.460183.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 0204 7871) 
 Shaanxi History Museum, Center for Wall Painting Protection, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.500913.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 2187 5998) 
 Northwestern Polytechnical University and Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene (NPU), State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.500913.e) (ISNI:0000 0005 0949 7890) 
 Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.500913.e) 
 Northwestern Polytechnical University, NPU Institute of Culture and Heritage, Key Laboratory of Archaeological Exploration and Cultural Heritage Conservation Technology (Northwestern Polytechnical University), Ministry of Education, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.440588.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 0307 1240) 
 Northwestern Polytechnical University, NPU Institute of Culture and Heritage, Key Laboratory of Archaeological Exploration and Cultural Heritage Conservation Technology (Northwestern Polytechnical University), Ministry of Education, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.440588.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 0307 1240); Key Scientific Research Base of Conservation & Restoration for Mural As Collection and Materials Science in State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.440588.5); Northwestern Polytechnical University and Shaanxi Joint Lab of Graphene (NPU), State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Center for Nano Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi’an, China (GRID:grid.440588.5) (ISNI:0000 0005 0949 7890) 
Pages
149
Publication year
2024
Publication date
Dec 2024
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
20507445
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3054302233
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.