Nowadays, epoxy-based adhesives are mostly used in art conservation because of their glossiness and excellent adhesion strength. However, due to the colorless nature of the epoxy adhesives, it is very difficult to detect an artifact's repaired location. Thus, a fluorescent adhesive is needed which can emit the bright color under UV light but remains invisible in normal light so that we can easily detect the joint without affecting its physical appearance. Herein, we have developed waterborne epoxy-based fluorescent adhesive for art conservation. The adhesive is prepared by graphene quantum dots (GQDs) ornamented block copolymer, (poly(1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)-block-poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PVP-b-PGMA)) synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT) mediated emulsion using polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA) technique. The adhesive shows the blue color under the UV light but remains colorless in normal light, indicating the fluorescence property which is confirmed by both the UV-visible and Photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The fluorescent emulsion was glued on both glass and ceramic substrates for measuring the adhesive property. Moreover, the whole process was carried out in aqueous media and the graphene quantum dots (GQDs) used for the fluorescent property was synthesized from citric acid, leading to the sustainability and environmental friendliness of this work. Finally, we believe that this kind of new waterborne epoxy-based fluorescent adhesive will provide a new contrivance among the art conservators to repair or reconstruct the artifacts.

Fluorescence active waterborne epoxy adhesive for art conservation via GQDs stabilized RAFT mediated emulsion polymerization

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.