Scanning electron microscopy in monitoring the aging of alternative materials for plastering of canvas manufactured products

During the restoration of manufactured canvas, the plastering of recoverable lacunae is generally carried out by means of dehydrated gesso, rabbit-skin glue or, more rarely, by using already made up products. Being gesso-animal glue mixture totally comparable with canvas constitutive materials, it must be considered the strong drying correlated shrinkage, the poor mechanical resistance and the possibility to be a substrate for deteriorating biological agents, in particular environmental conditions. Similarly, ready-to-use products, such as Modostuc and Polyfilla, undergo a dramatic shrinkage and show a poor mechanical resistance. Aquazol , BEVA  gesso and Balsite , new products commonly used for different purposes, have been here analyzed. Their behavior has been studied by careful light microscopy observation of their chromatic changes and by scanning electron microscopy of their surface details. An artificial aging condition was also induced to better characterize their response to the environmental damage progression. The performed studies on these materials provided very positive results and their potential use in the place of common use fillers has been suggested.