Polymer-coated Nanolimes Dispersions for Reduction, Deacidification and Consolidation of Ancient Paper

Nanolimes have been widely explored as nanomaterial for cultural heritage preservation. In particular, they have shown interesting properties to contrast the ageing of manuscripts, books and artistic works, opening up the possibility to store such items in a good quality state for longer. In the present work we reported an innovative nanolime-based formulation for paper restoration, which includes in its composition a reducing agent and a fibers consolidator as well. To formulate an efficient product, we deeply investigated the cellulose oxidation process with a multi-technique approach. The here presented formulation consists in a hydroalcoholic ternary dispersion of nanolimes coated with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and tert- butylamine borane complex (TBAB) as cellulose fibers consolidator and reducer, respectively. The effectiveness of the ternary mixture has been demonstrated on oxidized paper, whose chemical and mechanical properties were partially recovered after the treatment.