LASCAUX® MEDIUM FOR CONSOLIDATION Material Properties Before & After Artificial Aging

Abstract

Lascaux® Medium for Consolidation (MfC) is an aqueous dispersion of acrylic copolymers that was developed for consolidation of polychrome wooden objects. While there have been studies investigating the properties of MfC, there is not enough literature to conclude a well-rounded view of its performance and influence on cultural heritage materials as it ages. It is of great importance to know the properties of the chosen consolidant, as consolidation is deemed to be a permanent additive material to the object. Synthetic materials, such as MfC, are considered stable and their properties can be modified with additives to meet desired criteria. However, additives can make it difficult to predict the deterioration process as the product ages. This study aims to investigate chemical- and mechanical behavior of MfC before and after artificial aging. An experiment was conducted to artificially age 12 samples of MfC for 500 hours in accelerated aging conditions according to ISO-standard 4892-2. Samples were examined before and after aging using ATR-FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and DMA to examine the following aspects: tensile strength, glass transition temperature, chemical composition, and degradation processes. Discussion of the findings concluded that deterioration had occurred in the samples after aging and that crosslinking was the most probable deterioration process. It was also found that MfC possess a broad Tg and the presence of styrene in MfC was confirmed.