— Artificial leaf could debut new era of 'fast-food energy' — Technology for making an 'artificial leaf' holds the potential for opening an era of 'fast-food energy,' in which people generate their own electricity at home with low-cost equipment…
— Graphene lights up with new possibilities — The future brightened for organic chemistry when researchers at Rice University found a highly controllable way to attach organic molecules to pristine graphene, making the miracle…
— Scientists develop brand new class of small molecules through innovative chemistry — Inspired by natural products, scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have created a new class of small molecules with the potential to serve as a rich foundation…
— New 'smart' material could help tap medical potential of tissue-penetrating light — Scientists are reporting development and successful initial testing of the first practical 'smart' material that may supply the missing link in efforts to use in medicine a form of…
— Formaldehyde: Poison could have set the stage for the origins of life — Formaldehyde, a poison and a common molecule throughout the universe, is likely the source of the solar system's organic carbon solids - abundant in both comets and asteroids. Scientists…
— Exploring the possibilities for zeolites — Some people collect stamps and coins, but when it comes to sheer utility, few collections rival the usefulness of Rice University researcher Michael Deem's collection of 2.6 million…
— Microreactors: Small scale chemistry could lead to big improvements for biodegradable polymers — Using a small block of aluminium with a tiny groove carved in it, a team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Polytechnic Institute…
— Small code change, big effect — Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have developed a new method which enables researchers to label any protein of their choice with…
— New imaging technique provides rapid, high-definition chemistry — With intensity a million times brighter than sunlight, a new synchrotron-based imaging technique offers high-resolution pictures of the molecular composition of tissues with unprecedented…
New look for antiques
In the past, restoration of paintings and other old artwork often involved application of acrylic resins to consolidate and protect them. One of the most important tasks for modern restorers is thus to remove these layers, because it turns out that acrylic resins not only drastically change the optics of the treated artwork, but in many cases they accelerate their degradation. Italian researchers working with Piero Baglioni at the University of Florence have now developed a technique to effectively remove such old polymer layers from sensitive historic artworks. As the researchers report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the new cleaning system involves only a tiny proportion of volatile organic compounds. 'We have demonstrated the first successful application of a water-based system for the removal of an organic layer from artwork,' says Baglioni. 'In addition, our method is simpler and less invasive than traditional processes.'
The scientists use an oil-in-water microemulsion with the organic solvent para-xylene as the oil component. An emulsion is a fine dispersion of droplets of one liquid in another liquid with which the first is not miscible. One example from our daily lives is milk. A microemulsion is an emulsion that forms spontaneously and is stable. It contains substances that act as emulsifiers. Because the individual drops are only nanometre-sized, the mircoemulsion is not milky and opaque, but clear and transparent.
The Italian researchers embedded their micoremulsion in a matrix of a modified type of cellulose - a material used as a thickener for emulsion paints. The matrix makes the cleaning agent viscous, so that it cannot enter very far into the pores of a painting. Its activity is limited to the outer layer, whilst deeper layers of paint do not come into contact with the xylene. The environment is protected as well, because of the very low concentration of volatile solvent, the evaporation of which is further limited by the matrix. The optical transparency of the system also allows the restorer to continuously monitor the cleaning process.
'We successfully cleaned a mural from the 15th century,' reports Baglioni. This painting is located in the Santa Maria della Scala Sacristy in Siena. 'It was covered with a 35 year old layer of acrylic from a previous restoration. Our new system allowed us to completely remove the undesirable shine. We were also able to clean another art work: a gilt frame from an 18th century painting.'
Or subscribe for our Newsletter, a free e-mail publication. It is published practically every day.
Panoramic view into the microcosm
Novel method 'self-assembles' metal atoms into porous nanostructures
Cells have an appetite for micro-doughnuts
Pumice as a time witness