11.

3 The plastic materials that have been used Expanded polystyrene This material is white
and has a very characteristic appearance as it
These materials may be divided in two main
is composed of an agglomeration of tiny
categories: (1) Semi-finished products of
globules a few millimetres in diameter. Its
expanded plastic material available in sheet
density is in the range 15-35 kg/n1 3 . It is
form. (2) Liquid resins that expand in volume
extremely sensitive to the action of organic
in presence of catalysts, called foam plastics.
solvents, particularly the aromatics (benzene,
These two types have properties that
toluene), chlorocompounds (carbon
commend them for use in restoration work.
tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, trichlorethane)
The semi-finished sheets are well-adapted for
and acetone, amyl acetate, etc. These solvents
the fabrication of rigid supports for detached
attack the surface of the expanded
mural paintings, and the foam plastics, though
polystyrene rapidly because destruction of
not currently in use, doubtless have a future.
small quantities of the material causes the
They are of special interest as supports
formation of considerable cavities. Therefore,
because of their light weight.
it is essential to use either adhesives in
11.3.1 Semi-finished expanded products emulsion form or those which are soluble in

Materials that can be used as rigid supports water or epoxy resins; neither should contain

for mural paintings will be considered, an ingredient capable of dissolving the

especially those types widely available material itself! Expanded polystyrene cannot

commercially and in particular polystyrene, be exposed directly to atmospheric agents,

polyurethane and olyvinyl chloride. particularly to the sun's rays because

Polystyrene and expanded PVC are materials polystyrene, the synthetic polymer that is the

of closed cellular structure (i.e. composed of main constituent, yellows and loses its

small empty cells separated from each other mechanical strength by the action of

by their thin walls) and thus are impermeable ultraviolet light. It should be noted, however,

to gases and liquids. The expanded that recent artificial-ageing tests carried out

polyurethane off~rs various degrees of according to the method 6021 of the norm

impermeability for it is commercially available USA MILSTD-406 with an exposure of 240

as closed-cell type and also as open-cell or hours produced no noticeable alteration on a

sponge-like types having communicating cells. polystyrene of density 30-35 kg/m 3 . It is not

These materials can be obtained either in easy to establish a correlation between these

sheet form of varying thickness from a few tests and the reaction of the material to infra-

millimetres to several centimetres or in rolls red radiation and humidity. This is made more

when the thickness and flexibility will permit. difficult because the aim of the tests cited was
to establish the behaviour of the material
when used industrialy. These show that the
material has only a dozen years life, a much
shorter period of time than that required of
materials used in the conservation of works of
art. The building industry uses expanded
polystyrene very largely as a thermal and
acoustic insulator and is inclined to complain
of its limited durability. Indeed it seems that
the material may literally disappear in areas in
which it is spread thinly, perhaps because of
the contraction of the walls of the cells or-a
more recent hypothesis-because of biological
attack. But these limitations always concern
the material of low density (about 15 277 The
plastic materials that have been used kg l n:
3 ); they have .not been established for
material of higher density whose use IS less
widespread. Exp~nded polystyrene is
flammable but as the propagation of flame IS
prevented by the rapid fusion of the material
it is ·unlikely that its use would increase the
risk of fire. Despit~ its l.imita~ions this
material has great potential as it is so very
hght m weight, easy to fashion and at the
same time relatively cheap. Expanded
polyurethane ~xpanded polyu.ret~une is. s~l~
in sheet form or rigid block and In rolls when It
IS semi-ngid or flexible. If not coloured
artificially it is whitish with a tendency
towards brown.
Chemic.ally, it is more resistant than
polystyrene, almost Insoluble m most solvents
but very sensitive to the destructive action of
UV w:hich ~akes it become dark and fragile. In
rigid form the m.atenal resists attack by micro-
organisms quite well but the flexible brands
are more susceptible, possibly because of the
presence of plasticizers. Despite its great
advantage in being able to withstand the
action of solvents, expanded polyurethane ~as
not of~en been used in restoration work up to
the present time. Fle.xible typ~s do not give
sufficient support to the paint layer while the
ngid types that we have tested have
mechanical prop~~ties inferior ~o those of
expanded polyvinyl chloride (fragility; weak
resistance to abrasion) and the material is
difficult to work. However, the semi-rigid
types have been used with some success if
they are glued to panels of a completely rigid
material such as wood, masonite or glass fibre
resin. In this case the ~unction . of the
expanded material is essentially to act as an
Int.er:enti?n. layer which will permit easy
detachment of the painting If It 1s ?ecessary
to transfer it to a new support. However,
separation can only be made by mechanical
means. Ext:anded P?lyurethae in rigid form
has been used notably as an Intervention layer
tor the ceiling painting in the Tomb of the
Olympiads at Tarquinia. Because of its high
chemical resistance expanded polyurethane
can be glued with adhesives in solution such
as those with a basis of rubber. In its semi-
rigid form it has also been found useful where
canvases of paintings detached from walls
have been mounted on stretchers, acting as a
very efficient shock-absorber when attached
at the edges and corners. Expanded polyvinyl
chloride Expanded polyvinyl chloride is less
sensitive to ordinary solvents than expanded
polystyrene but more soluble than
polyurethane. It has good resistance to
aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and
ethanol but is attacked by chlorinated solvents
and by methyl ethyl ketone. It is very resistant
to micro-organisms and to atmospheric agents
and is not even degraded by either UV
radiatio~ or humidity. That, at least, seems to
be the case from observatiOns made up to the
present time. For example, pieces exposed in
the open air to a marine climate for seven
years (parts of the antennae of a marine
radar) have shown no deterioration in their
mechanical properties; the only visible
alteration was a slight darkening of the
original colour. The material is available as
rigid sheets, semi-rigid sheets or in flexible
form-all of light brown colour (closed-cell).
Mechanically, expanded PVC is the strongest
material of this group but this does not
prevent it from being easily fashioned to fit
curved surfaces, as it can be softened by
exposure to IR lamps. Thus, it would seem, its
properties make it the most promising
material for the construction of new sandwich
supports for detached mural paintings. The
mechanical qualities of PVC are sufficient for it
to be used as the weight-bearing constituent
of the sandwich without the necessity of other
structural materials which are essential, for
example, in the case of expanded polystyrene.
It should be noted however, that deformation
can take place at normal temperatures if the
material is kept under stress for long periods.
That is why it is advisable, despite what has
been said, to reinforce expanded polyvinyl
chloride with a light metal structure. . Metal
reinforcements are generally constructed
from profdes of light alloys glued together and
to the sheets of expanded material joined
with structural adhesives of the epoxy type.
These metal structures may be completely
embedded in the polyvinyl chloride to avoid
increasing the thickness of the support. As it
can be cut very easily, expanded polyvinyl
chloride is equally suitable as the 'intervention
layer' which permits the easy recovery of the
painting, although its removal may be less
easy than that of expanded polystyrene. For
the operation, aqueous adhesives, for
example vinyl emulsions, or the epoxy type
resins that are exempt of organic solvents
should be used. Expanded PVC is available
commercially (Cadorite) as sheets 40-45 mm
thick and densities of 20, 30, 60, 80 and 90
kg/m 3 . For large supports high density types
(80 or 90 kg/m 3 ) are preferred. It is easy to
obtain thinner sheets by sawing the material,
taking care to remove the two original faces of
the sheet to a depth of at least 5 mm.
Cadorite has a superficial skin of low
expansion which may cause curvature in the
panel by differential expansion if the panel is
free to move and if only one face is removed.
There are other types of expanded PVC
commercially available which have no
superficial skin and which are already cut to
the required thickness (Airex) which saves the
work of preparation.