Nanofluids for the removal of graffiti from Street-Art mural paintings

Rodorico GIORGI, CSGI, University of Florence

This contribution will be mainly focused on the removal of graffiti from paintings, which is a particularly challenging and relatively new issue in conservation of cultural heritage. This is the case of contemporary Street Art jeopardized by tags, signs and writings. In these conditions, the cleaning action must be extremely selective, as the binder of the undesired outer layer is likely to have a very similar chemical nature to the one of the underlying original painting. To this aim, nanostructured fluids, such as micelles and microemulsions (hereafter, shortly, “nanofluids”), either neat or combined with highly retentive chemical hydrogels were proposed. In particular, interpenetrated and/or semi-interpenetrated polymer networks hydrogels, based on PVA (polyninylalcohol) or poly(hydroxyehtyl methacrylate)/N,N’-Methylene bisacrylamide (pHEMA/MBA) combined with a high molecular weight poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) were investigated. These hydrogels have been shown to be particularly suited to limit the cleaning action to the surface layers of the treated area. These hydrogels can be loaded with water, some polar solvents, or with aqueous nanofluids, composed by eco-friendly, volatile or auto-degradable compounds, which ensure a residue-free and environmentally compatible cleaning intervention.

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