COU RTESY OF PI E RO BAG LI ONI

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

A LA FRESCO move the Paraloid, you

A nanomagnetic basically spread the
sponge is
prepared for
polymer inside of the
the removal of pores, and it becomes
Paraloid from extremely difficult to
a painting. remove,” Baglioni ex-
plains. “It’s almost im-
possible to remove all of
the Paraloid using a pure organic solvent,”
he adds. To do so, a restorer would have to
wash the surface hundreds of times.
The nanomagnetic sponge offers a far
more practical way to remove the Paraloid,
according to Baglioni. First the sponge is
loaded with a microemulsion of the clean-
ing solvent in water. When the sponge is
placed onto the fresco’s surface, tiny emul-
sified solvent droplets migrate from the
sponge into the painting’s porous matrix.

FINE ART GETS A

They dissolve the Paraloid and compart-
mentalize it into the microemulsion’s
organic phase. The sponge then reabsorbs

NANO SPONGE BATH the emulsion, taking the Paraloid with it

and leaving only water behind.

STRICTLY SPEAKING, the magnetic

Tiny particles help TIDY UP delicate frescoes nanoparticles aren’t necessary for cleaning.
BETHANY HALFORD, C&EN WASHINGTON Rather, they make it easier to manipulate
the sponge on delicate surfaces, Baglioni
says. “Apply a magnetic field, and you can
TO REMOVE the ravages of time and grime chemically attaching CoFe2O4 nanoparti- remove the gel from the surface without
from works of fine art, restoration experts cles to a polyethylene glycol and acrylamide touching it.” The magnetic nanoparticles
have an entire palette of tools to choose polymer network. Like a kitchen sponge, also make it easy to recover the sponge,
from. Piero Baglioni would like to offer the polymer network is full of pores that he adds. A magnetic field can be used to
them another option: a sponge. can soak up solutions and microemulsions. squeeze all the fluid out of the material.
It’s no ordinary sponge though. By en- The resulting nanomagnetic material is Baglioni and his team have already used
listing magnetic nanoparticles, Baglioni, hard enough to be handled with tweezers or the nanomagnetic sponges to remove
a chemistry professor at Italy’s University cut with a knife or scissors. Baglioni’s group Paraloid from a fresco from the Interna-
of Florence, has created a material that can can also freeze-dry the material to get a tional University of Art in Florence and on
soak up cleaning solutions or microemul- magnetic powder that’s easily rehydrated. 14th-century paintings in an Italian villa
sions; squeeze them out onto the surface So far, Baglioni has found that the nano- north of Verona. Next, he plans to use the
of a painting, fresco, or sculpture; and then magnetic sponge is particularly useful for technique to restore a church in Sweden.
reabsorb them without a human hand ever removing Paraloid polymers from marble Richard G. Weiss, a chemistry professor
coming into contact with the delicate art- and frescos. Paraloid polymers were once at Georgetown University who has worked
work (Langmuir 2007, 23, 8681). used by art preservationists to protect art- on art restoration projects, says the sponge
Baglioni calls the material a nanomag- work. Unfortunately, over time the polymer offers a truly novel and creative approach
netic sponge. According to him, it is one of degrades, yellowing surfaces and breaking to cleaning artwork. He notes that the abil-
the most advanced, versatile systems for down a painting’s inorganic pigments. ity to remove the material from a surface
cleaning works of art. “This is better and Restoration experts are now trying to without touching it is particularly attrac-
faster than traditional methods,” he says. remove Paraloid coatings before they can tive. “By so doing,” Weiss says, “the pos-
Technically speaking, the sponges aren’t do any more harm. The task, Baglioni says, sibility of harming a delicate surface during
very spongy. Instead, they are more like a is particularly challenging with frescoes, this crucial step is reduced significantly.”
solid hydrogel. Baglioni and his colleagues which are painted on a porous calcium car- What remains to be shown, Weiss notes,
Massimo Bonini, Sebastian Lenz, and bonate matrix. is whether some of the magnetic nanopar-
Rodorico Giorgi prepare the material by “If you use an organic solvent to re- ticles are left behind on the painting’s
surface. Weiss also wonders if the nanopar-
ticles are able to remove paints that are
“These materials represent a true composed of ferromagnetic materials. “Re-
gardless,” he says, “these materials repre-
advance in art conservation.” sent a true advance in art conservation.” ■

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