VOLATILE4ARCHAEO · Investigation of Volatile Binding Media in temporary consolidation of archaeological materials

Investigation of Volatile Binding Media in temporary consolidation of archaeological materials

Cultural heritage (CH), including museum collections, architectural elements, and historical sites, is exposed to several risks, as natural hazards, climate change, floods, fires, earthquakes, and damages during conflicts. During these situations, the artifacts suffer total or partial losses, being fragile and vulnerable, with a serious risk of losing them forever. Temporary consolidation is a powerful tool for risk management of heritage materials via introducing a new material that restores objects' physical integrity. This consolidation is needed during high-risk steps, as excavation and safe transport to conservation laboratories or in museums. During excavation, there is also a risk of environmental shock, which can damage the artifacts dramatically, and the lack of appropriate temporary stabilization has led to extensive material loss. Same risk is experienced when water-based treatments, such as cleaning and desalination, must be performed too. Traditional polymers are not satisfactory for temporary consolidation, as their reversibility by removal with solvent is never complete and may cause irreversible damages. The project VOLATILE4ARCHAEO focused on investigating several Volatile Binding Media (VBM) and selected mixes for temporary consolidation and protection of cultural heritage. VBM are waxy solids that sublime (pass directly from solid to gas) at room temperature. VBM simply disappear by evaporation, making the removal by solvents, heat, and mechanical action obsolete. Subliming consolidants give solutions during detachment of mural painting, desalination of water-sensitive painted objects, lifting fragile wood, handling ethnographic objects, cleaning paper. So far, the employment of VBM was limited almost only to cyclododecane (CDD), which however exhibits several drawbacks in terms of low flash point, fixed sublimation speed, hazardousness, limited availability, etc. The research on alternatives to CDD is still extremely limited, so the main goal of VOLATILE4ARCHAEO was to contribute to fill this gap of knowledge. VOLATILE4ARCHAEO pursued three main objectives: 1. Significantly advancing the understanding of the physical-chemical behavior of subliming compounds when used to consolidate different substrates 2. Investigating new types of VBM to temporarily strengthen mural paintings, stone and ceramic materials 3. Validating the most promising VBM for conserving real historical artifacts. The results are expected to contribute to the conservation of Cultural Heritage, saving original materials from irreparable damages or even complete loss during excavation and/or conservation treatments.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union