Biosensors for cellulose-biosed materials in cultural heritage: case studies

New methodologies for the characterization of chemical composition and the monitoring of cleaning processes of paper and wood artifacts are based on tuned electrochemical sensors based on screen printed electrodes (SPE) coupled with a portable instrumentation^1,2. Electrochemical biosensors, based on enzymes, have been successfully applied in many fields from environment to medicine, from foods to pharmaceuticals but the use of them in the cultural heritage field is still an almost unexplored world. Many of these biosensors are well suitable to be used for the characterization of several important materials used in cultural heritage such as paper, paintings, textiles, metals or glass, with the aim of determining their composition, health state and/or the effectiveness of conservation or restoration interventions. Opportune biosensors could be indeed applied to determine both inorganic than organic compounds present as components, pollutants or degradation products of artworks. In this work, several application of sensors coupled with hydrogel is presented to underline the potentiality of these tools in cultural heritage.

1. Mazzuca, C., Carbone, M., Cancelliere, R., Prati, S., Sciutto, G., Mazzeo, R., Tositti, L., Regazzi, R., Mostacci, D., Micheli, L. (2018) A new analytical approach to characterize the effect of γ-ray sterilization on wood Microchemical Journal, 143, pp. 493-502. DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2018.08.001
2. 18) Micheli, L., Mazzuca, C., Palleschi, A., Palleschi G. (2016) Development of a diagnostic and cleaning tool for paper artworks: a case of study Microchemical Journal, 126, 32-41 DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2015.11.052