Work package 4
Work package Leader: CNR-DSCTM
Work package title: Protection of surfaces
Month(s): 1-33
Objectives:
The basic idea was to develop polyfunctional (multilayer and composite) protective systems, which go beyond the commonly used traditional protection systems based on the use of passive coatings and barriers to prevent interaction with pollutants and atmospheric agents. This was achieved by combining “active” and “passive” protective systems. The “active” systems developed in the Task 4.1 was based on green polymeric transparent matrices functionalised by embedding of nanomaterials to confer specific properties to the surface of metal and/or plastic artifacts. This layer is protected by an outermost and easily removable film, which was achieved through specific chemical moieties that made them sensitive to external stimuli and facilitate layer removal. A “passive” protective system with better gas barrier properties than the current best practice was developed in Task 4.2 and processed at a low temperature, wet and easily deployable spray coater. The new “active” and “passive” protective layers were combined in Task 3.3 to design a strongly protective multilayer structure adapted to the contemporary artwork surface (metal and/or plastic) to provide reliable and long-lasting protection. In Task 4.3, the function and cost/benefit of “passive” and “active” protective layers were assessed after deposition on artwork surfaces (two case-studies on metals and plastic materials, including some very unstable rapid prototyping materials currently entering heritage collections). When necessary, the cleaning tools developed in WP 2 can be employed to efficiently clean the surface to be treated with the polyfunctional “active” and “passive” protective layers to improve the adhesion and the performances of the coating. Moreover, the same cleaning tools can be used to remove the protective barrier, making fully reversible the process.
Tasks:
Task 4.1 – Active protective layers
Task 4.2 – Passive protective layers
Task 4.3 – Assessment and validation of the new surface protection formulations