New Perspective for Application of PLA in Cultural Heritage

The use of synthetic polymers is nowadays a common practice in the conservation of historical artefacts. Commercial products don't fully satisfy the necessary requirements for application in Cultural Heritage. Therefore scientific community takes interest in the development of new compounds with specific features. In the last years, polymers from renewable resources have attracted increasing interest as potential substitutes to petrochemical-based material in many applications. Among these, Polylactic Acid (PLA) has risen particular attention. Beside other major use (e.g., packaging, biomedical devices) actually PLA may represent an attractive alternative to conventional synthetic polymers used in conservation of Cultural Heritage. In this chapter a comprehensive survey of conservation materials and the most relevant achievements related to the application of PLA in this field is reported and discussed. urthermore perspectives and opportunities for the future are given.