From pen to pixel. The roman forum: a new reading of documentation

In the last decades, colloids, materials, and nanoscience have been providing solutions for the conservation of world heritage. Dispersions of alkaline earth hydroxide nanoparticles have been used to strengthen weakened wall paintings and stone, thanks to the physico-chemical compatibility of the particles with such artifacts. Nanoparticles dispersions have been also used to neutralize the acidity of paper, canvas, wood, and leather. Nanostructured cleaning fluids such as microemulsions are able to remove dirt, soil, and aged varnishes or coatings from works of art, while granting a safer and more controlled removal, and a decreased impact on both the environment and the operator, as compared to traditional solvent blends. Moreover, gels can be used to confine solvent and complex cleaning fluids, enabling controlled release on water and solvent-sensitive artistic substrates. Both the composition and the formulation process of the gels can be tuned so as to obtain optimal mechanical properties (e.g. viscoelasticity) and retentiveness of the loaded fluids, which reflects into easy handling of the gels, and in their removal without leaving gel residues on the treated surfaces (e.g. as verified via Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy). Solutions derived from colloids and nanoscience have been succesfully applied to the conservation of modern and contemporary art, whose preservation involves different challenges as compared to that of classic artifacts.