Sustainable Nanotechnologies for Curative and Preventive Wood Deacidification Treatments: An Eco-Friendly and Innovative Approach

Abstract

Waterlogged wooden artifacts represent an important historical legacy of our past. They are very fragile, especially due to the severe phenomenon of acidification that may occur in the presence of acid precursors. To date, a satisfactory solution for the deacidification of ancient wood on a large scale has still not been found. In this paper, we propose, for the first time, eco-friendly curative and preventive treatments using nanoparticles (NPs) of earth alkaline hydroxides dispersed in water and produced on a large scale. We present the characterization of the NPs (by X-ray diffraction, atomic-force and electron microscopy, and small-angle neutron scattering), together with the study of the deacidification efficiency of our treatments. We demonstrate that all our treatments are very effective for both curative and preventive aims, able to assure an almost neutral or slightly alkaline pH of the treated woods. Furthermore, the use of water as a solvent paves the way for large-scale and eco-friendly applications which avoid substances that are harmful for the environment and for human health.

Strong/Stiff Exterior and Elastic Interior: An Effective Biomimetic Topological Structure for the Consolidation of Waterlogged Wooden Archaeological Relics during Dehydration

“…Replacing large-sized polymers with small molecules ( e.g ., sugars, melamine, lignin-like oligomers, veratraldehyde, oxalic aldehyde) could shorten the infiltration time, but their consolidation effect is greatly weakened. In this regard, some researchers attempted to use nanoparticles ( e.g ., earth alkaline hydroxides, CaSiO 3 precipitations, Pluronic block copolymer/halloysite nanocomposite, halloysite nanotube/calcium hydroxide nanocomposite, wax nanoparticles) to treat the waterlogged wood, but introducing them into the interior of the wood usually needs the assistance of other auxiliary techniques ( e.g ., electroosmosis and vehiculation). Moreover, the surface precipitation of nanoparticles is prone to conceal the pristine color and texture of the wooden archaeological relics.…”

“…Thus, almost every country with an ancient civilization attaches great importance to the restoration and protection of wooden archaeological relics. Among diverse wood remains, waterlogged ones are relatively difficult to deal with because their inner composition/structure has partially changed due to the surface bacterial/fungi erosion, acid hydrolysis, and subsequent substitution of hydrolyzed carbohydrates with water, which causes them to shrink, crack, and collapse when exposed to air or dehydrated. − Thus, developing an effective technique for maintaining the shape/size of a waterlogged wood during its dehydration process as well as recovering its pristine mechanical stability is of great significance and has drawn tremendous attention.…”

Monitoring of the Environmental Corrosivity in Museums by RFID Sensors: Application to Pollution Emitted by Archeological Woods

“…Archeological woods undergo a conservation treatment in the workshop by conventional chemical treatments based on polyethylene glycol (PEG). However, for large structures such as ships, this process does not exclude the formation of acidic iron species at the surface [21,22]. These latter are known to generate H 2 S pollution in the atmosphere and may affect other historical objects present in the building such as metals or pigments.…”

Monitoring of the Environmental Corrosivity in Museums by RFID Sensors: Application to Pollution Emitted by Archeological Woods

“…Archeological woods undergo a conservation treatment in the workshop by conventional chemical treatments based on polyethylene glycol (PEG). However, for large structures such as ships, this process does not exclude the formation of acidic iron species at the surface [21,22]. These latter are known to generate H2S pollution in the atmosphere and may affect other historical objects present in the building such as metals, pigments,….…”