The conservation of the Vecchietta's wall paintings in the Old Sacristy of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena: The use of nanotechnological cleaning agents

In the present article we report a study on some sodium dodecyl sulphate/propylene carbonate based aqueous micellar solutions developed with the aim of setting up a nanotechnological cleaning system to remove naturally aged polymeric acrylic layers from the surface of the wall paintings in the Old Sacristy of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena (15th century). Being these systems mainly composed of water (more than 70% by weight), the cleaning of the painted surface have been performed with low environmental impact, due to the small amount of the pure organic solvents used (always less than 25% by weight). Furthermore, the aqueous phase constitutes a hydrophilic barrier to the penetration of the hydrophobic acrylic materials into the porous support. Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-rays analysis (SEM/EDX) and in situ capillary water adsorption measurements indicated the efficacy of this cleaning procedure. Finally, the chemical diagnostics investigation enabled to ascertain the presence of both salts (nitrates and gypsum) and the acrylic polymeric material.