Polymers (Jun 2021)

What about Phenol Formaldehyde (PF) Foam in Modern-Contemporary Art? Insights into the Unaged and Naturally Aged Material by a Multi-Analytical Approach

  • Valentina Pintus,
  • Anna Piccolo,
  • Wilfried Vetter,
  • Ligia Maria Moretto,
  • Katja Sterflinger,
  • Manfred Schreiner

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13121964
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 12
p. 1964

Abstract

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The ageing behavior of phenol formaldehyde (PF) foam, a material increasingly used in modern-contemporary art, was investigated by a multi-analytical approach. PF foams with open- and closed-cell structures were selected and analyzed in their unaged and naturally indoor-aged state by employing optical microscopy (OM) and fiber optical reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) for assessing their morphology and color alteration. Micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR) was used for determining chemical changes and oxidation processes, and the acidity was monitored by pH measurements. The results clearly showed the extreme sensitivity of both open- and closed-cell PF foams to conditions typically found in indoor museums. OM indicated that the cells of the foams are prone to disrupt, and a tendency towards a red color shift was observed with FORS. μ-FTIR revealed the formation of quinone groups resulting from oxidation reactions. Finally, a slight decrease in the acidity was found by pH measurements.

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