Abstract

The project VOLATILE4ARCHAEO (Investigation of Volatile Binding Media in Temporary Consolidation of archaeological materials) was funded by the European Commission within the call H2020-MSCA-IF-2020 of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant Agreement n. 101031224) (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101031224). Volatile binding media (VBM) are used to protect fragile heritage materials during transport or other high-risk operations. Cyclododecane (CDD) is currently the most used temporary consolidant. Still, this material exhibits some limitations, such as its possible toxicity for humans and the environment, its low flashpoint posing inflammation risks, and the fact that it provides a single sublimation rate, which makes it not suitable for all the climates and applications. The EU-funded VOLATILE4ARCHAEO project investigated alternative VBM, alone and mixed with CDD. Sublimation rate, interaction and compatibility with various substrates, and presence of residues were tested. The project provided several options for variable-term consolidation with VBM and experimental data on their performance, including testing on real historical objects. This technical report constitutes an overview of the results for conservators.