Biopolímeros de macroalgas: extração, caracterização e aplicação sustentável na área da restauração de pinturas

Abstract

Cultural artifacts inevitably suffer from degradation processes. Furthermore, they are subject to numerous risks related to environmental disasters. In the last decade, research involving gels and hydrogels in painting cleaning has intensified, mainly with the use of biopolymers. Macroalgae biopolymers are an interesting resource because they allow for extensive chemical modification and application. In this work, alginate and cellulose were extracted from the macroalga Lessonia Flavicans with good yields, 12% and 14% respectively. The obtained materials were chemically and morphologically characterized through XRD, FTIR, NMR, SEM, and TG analyses. In addition, the alginate was characterized by UV-VIS spectroscopy, and rheological measurements were performed using a viscometer. In all analyses, results very similar to commercial standards were obtained. Application tests were carried out on a work from the MARGS painting collection, damaged by the flood in May 2024. The tested painting is by the artist Ado Malagoli. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the surfactant in cleaning, six different formulations were developed with biopolymers in hydrogels, using Tween 80 and TTA as surfactants. Of these formulations, all those with Tween 80 proved effective, either as the sole surfactant or in combination with TTA. This research is current and promising in the area of paint cleaning, especially when it involves the need to control moisture and friction in more fragile paint layers.