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Continuous wave laser thermal restoration of oxidized lead-based pigments in mural paintings

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Abstract

Red lead and lead white are some of the most ancient and common pigments in mural paintings. However, they tend to blacken with time due to their oxidation to plattnerite (β-PbO2). The possibility to induce the reconversion reactions by CW laser heating is hereby discussed. A thermodynamic study by TGA showed that direct cerussite or hydrocerussite formation from plattnerite are not suitable reconversion routes, which was confirmed by laser irradiation trials under CO2 and CO2/H2O fluxes. Minium (Pb3O4) and subsequent massicot (β-PbO) formation from plattnerite were achieved (confirmed by SEM–EDS, XRD and micro-Raman) under Ar+, 810 nm diode and Nd:YAG lasers. The latter appears to be the most suited for restauration purposes, given the broad minium reconversion irradiance range. This is confirmed by successful trials on macroscopic areas of naturally darkened red lead containing samples.

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Notes

  1. Reconversion is hereby used in the sense of a chemical reaction (conversion) taking place backward. Here the conversion is the oxidation to plattnerite; the reconversion is thus the formation of cerussite or hydrocerussite (white) or minium (red) from plattnerite (black) [6].

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the French Ministry of Culture and Communication for financial support, and the PLANI group from the LILM laboratory (CEA) which supplied their experimental set up. This work was supported by the Paris Seine Graduate School Humanities, Creation, Heritage, Investissement d'Avenir ANR-17-EURE-0021 – Foundation for Cultural Heritage Science. The authors also wish to acknowledge Kamel Mouhoubi (Université de Reims, EA 7548 ITHEMM) for the interesting discussions and details about IR thermography and the determination of emissivity. The authors would also like to thank Philippe Delaporte (Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS - UMR 7341 LP3) and Alain Baronnet (CINaM) for their contribution to preliminary studies. Lastly, the authors would like to thank Emmanuel André (LP3) for granting access to the Shimadzu UV–visible–NIR spectrophotometer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Interdisciplinaire de Conservation et Restauration du Patrimoine (CICRP), 21 Rue Guibal, 13003, Marseille, France

    Théa de Seauve & Jean-Marc Vallet

  2. C2RMF, Palais du Louvre – Porte des Lions, 14, Quai François Mitterrand, 75001, Paris, France

    Vincent Detalle

  3. Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, CNRS – Chimie ParisTech, PCMTH, UMR 8247, Paris, France

    Vincent Detalle

  4. Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Service d’Études Analytiques et de Réactivité des Surfaces, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Alexandre Semerok

  5. Sinopia, 1820 Chemin des Tuilières, 13290, Aix-en-Provence, France

    Sébastien Aze

  6. Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS – UMR 7325 CINaM, Campus de Luminy, Case 913, 13288, Marseille Cedex 9, France

    Olivier Grauby

  7. Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Service d’études de la Corrosion et du Comportement des Matériaux dans leur Environnement, 91191, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Sophie Bosonnet & Kevin Ginestar

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  1. Théa de Seauve
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de Seauve, T., Detalle, V., Semerok, A. et al. Continuous wave laser thermal restoration of oxidized lead-based pigments in mural paintings. Appl. Phys. B 127, 162 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-021-07702-w

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