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. 2022 Dec 22;15(1):36.
doi: 10.3390/polym15010036.

Biopolymer Gels as a Cleaning System for Differently Featured Wooden Surfaces

Chaehoon Lee  1   2 , Francesca Di Turo  3 , Barbara Vigani  4 , Maduka L Weththimuni  1 , Silvia Rossi  4 , Fabio Beltram  3 , Pasqualantonio Pingue  3 , Maurizio Licchelli  1 , Marco Malagodi  2   5 , Giacomo Fiocco  2   5 , Francesca Volpi  2   5
Affiliations

Biopolymer Gels as a Cleaning System for Differently Featured Wooden Surfaces

Chaehoon Lee et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

The cleaning of some wooden artefacts can be challenging due to peculiar surface roughness and/or particular finishing treatments that favour the deposition of dirt and contaminants. The most common cleaning system used by conservators is agar gel, characterized by its rigidity and brittleness, which challenges the cleaning of rough and irregular surfaces typical of most wooden artefacts. In this work, alginate crosslinked with calcium (CA) and konjac glucomannan crosslinked with borax (KGB) gels were proposed to solve this issue. They were prepared and applied to smooth- and rough-surfaced mock-ups replicating wooden musical instruments' surfaces that had been subsequently covered by artificial soiling and sweat contaminants. The mechanical properties of CA and KGB gels, including their stability over a 60-day storage time, were evaluated by a texture analyzer, while cleaning efficacy was analytically evaluated by non-invasive X-ray fluorescence mapping and profilometric investigation. CA gel appeared to have a higher tensile strength and elongation at break. KGB gel was shown to be soft and resilient, indicating its suitability for cleaning rough surfaces. After repeating the cleaning application three times on the rough-surfaced mock-ups, both the CA and KGB gels were shown to have cleaning efficacy. The results obtained with CA and KGB were compared with those from the Agar application.

Keywords: X-ray fluorescence; gel cleaning; green gel; konjac glucomannan; profilometer; sodium alginate; texture analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Images of application of Agar gel on soiled-EAM (a), CA gel on soiled-WM (b), and KGB gel on soiled-EAM (c).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stress–strain curves of fresh and aged Agar gel (a), CA gel (b), and KGB gel (c).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cleaning efficacy values obtained on soiled-WM and soiled-EAM (a) and on sweat-WM and sweat-EAM (b). The percentage of cleaning efficacy was calculated based on the counts of Ca for soiled mock-ups and Cl for sweated ones. Agar, CA, and KGB gels were applied 1 to 3 times on both soiled- and sweat-contaminated mock-ups.
Figure 4
Figure 4
3D heat maps of soiled-WM (a) cleaned by CA_3 (b) and KGB_3 (c). The colour range represents the different heights (in microns) of the details present on the sample surface.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Images by stereomicroscope of the soiled-WM cleaned by CA gel and KGB gel at different application times CA_1 (a), CA_3 (b), KGB_1 (c), and KGB_3 (d).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Considered roughness values of Sa (a), Ssk (b), and Sv (c) on the different areas of soiled−WM cleaned by different gels and application time CA_1, CA_3, KGB_1, KGB_3, and Agar_3.
Figure 7
Figure 7
3D heat maps of soiled-EAM (a) cleaned by CA_3 (b) and KGB_3 (c). The colour range represents the different heights (in microns) of the details present on the sample surface.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Images by stereomicroscope of the soiled-EAM cleaned by CA gel and KGB gel at different application times CA_1 (a), CA_3 (b), KGB_1 (c), and KGB_3 (d).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Considered roughness values of Sa (a), Ssk (b), and Sv (c) on the different areas of EAM and soiled−EAM cleaned by different gels and application time CA_1, CA_3, KGB_1, KGB_3, and Agar_3.
Figure 10
Figure 10
3D maps of areas on sweat-EAM (a) cleaned by KGB_1 (b) and KGB_3 (c). The colour range represents the different heights of the details present on the sample surface; microns are represented on the relative colour scale.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Considered roughness values of Sa (a), Ssk (b), and Sv (c) on the area of EAM and sweat−EAM cleaned by different gels and application time CA_1, CA_3, KGB_1, KGB_3, and Agar_3.
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