Restoration of paper artworks with microemulsions confined in hydrogels for safe and efficient removal of adhesive tapes

Significance From Dead Sea Scrolls to Federico Fellini and Lucio Fontana drawings, pressure-sensitive tapes (PSTs) have been used as adhesive fasteners or as part of temporary conservation treatments that frequently became permanent. Their safe and efficient removal poses ethical and aesthetic questions: Adhesive tape residues damage the paper substrate and, due to discoloring, prejudice the artwork enjoyment and conservation. Selective removal without affecting the underlying support is challenging and often impossible. We tackled this issue from a physicochemical and a colloidal perspective, by designing a system where nanosized solvent droplets are confined within a hydrogel. This method has the potential to revolutionize the approaches used so far in the removal of PSTs and coatings from a plurality of materials.