{"id":18636,"date":"2018-05-09T15:10:56","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T20:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conservators-converse.org\/?p=18636"},"modified":"2018-05-09T15:10:56","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T20:10:56","slug":"the-london-gels-in-conservation-conference-michelle-sullivan-rigid-polysaccharide-gels-for-paper-conservation-a-residue-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/2018\/05\/09\/the-london-gels-in-conservation-conference-michelle-sullivan-rigid-polysaccharide-gels-for-paper-conservation-a-residue-study\/","title":{"rendered":"The London Gels in Conservation Conference: Michelle Sullivan, \u201cRigid polysaccharide gels for paper conservation: a residue study\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gels<\/a>
Gels in Conservation Conference, October 16-18, 2017<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This blog post is part of a series of observations about the London \u201cGels in Conservation\u201d conference co-hosted by the Tate and IAP (International Academic Projects, Ltd).\u00a0 In mid-October, over the course of three days, some 41 authors presented research, techniques and ideas on gels in conservation.\u00a0 The talks were excellent, and I\u2019ve focused on four that were notable for the wide range of materials treated and challenges faced. They ranged from coating\/grime removal from a giant sequoia tree cross section, to dirt and varnish removal from Delacroix wall paintings, to removal of repairs from a fragile felt hat from a 18th<\/sup> century ship wreck, and an experiment comparing residues left behind by various gels on paper.<\/p>\n

\"Sullivan's<\/a>
Sullivan’s research questions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fourth talk I wanted to highlight is Michelle Sullivan\u2019s \u201cRigid polysaccharide gels for paper conservation: a residue study\u201d — of particular interest to me as a paper conservator.\u00a0 It was one of the few studies exploring quantitatively if residue is left behind by gels used in the treatment of works on paper.\u00a0 If so, did how does that residue impact the paper?\u00a0 To easily track residue on the paper samples, fluorescein dyes visible in UV light were added to the gels tested.\u00a0 The experiment used agarose, gellan gum and methyl cellulose gels in three different concentrations applied to three different papers for three different time periods.\u00a0 In addition, a few variables were added to mimic treatment, such as applying the gels through Japanese paper and clearing the gels using a damp swab.\u00a0 Besides surface examination, cross sections of the samples were also taken to see if the gels were penetrating the paper surface. The cross sections seemed to suggest that gellan gum was being absorbed into the paper.\u00a0 Sullivan found that all the gels tested left a residue, with gellan gum apparently leaving behind the most. She found that applying the gels through a Japanese paper barrier was the most effective method in minimizing residue.\u00a0 After oven aging for 21 days, the rag sample treated with gellan gum darkened slightly, while all the other samples did not.\u00a0 Sullivan proposed that the darkening might be related to the gelatin content of the rag test paper.\u00a0 She plans to expand her test variables and continue to build on this research.\u00a0 This feels like very important research and I eagerly await to results of the next phase of her work.<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>
Gel residue experiment set-up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This blog series is a result of receiving the FAIC Carolyn Horton grant to help me attend the conference. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the FAIC for helping make it possible for me to attend this important conference.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This blog post is part of a series of observations about the London \u201cGels in Conservation\u201d conference co-hosted by the Tate and IAP (International Academic Projects, Ltd).\u00a0 In mid-October, over the course of three days, some 41 authors presented research, techniques and ideas on gels in conservation.\u00a0 The talks were excellent, and I\u2019ve focused on … Continue reading “The London Gels in Conservation Conference: Michelle Sullivan, \u201cRigid polysaccharide gels for paper conservation: a residue study\u201d”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11,38],"tags":[217,417,459,460,516,653],"class_list":["post-18636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allied-organizations","category-grants","category-research-materials-techniques","tag-carolyn-horton-grant","tag-faic-grants","tag-gel-residue-study","tag-gels-in-conservation","tag-iap","tag-michelle-sullivan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18636\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/conservators-converse\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}