• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.23
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• pp.1-10
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• 2008

Consolidants based on tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) such as alkoxysilanes have been widely used for the consolidation of decaying stone heritages. Low-viscosity alkoxysilanes penetrate inside the decaying stone and polymerize within the porous structure of the decaying stone, significantly increasing the cohesion of the material. However, TEOS-based consolidants suffer from practical drawbacks, such as crack formation of the gel during the drying phase due to the developed capillary force, which is typical for TEOS-based consolidants. We prepared new consolidants TEOS-based consolidants containing flexible (3-glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and silica nanoparticles (or polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS)) in order to reduce capillary force development during gel drying. Since the consolidants should have a good interaction with the component of the stone in order to connect the isolate grains of decaying stone, the adhesion interaction of the developed consolidants on the surface of the granite was macroscopically investigated by the ISO 2409 cross cutting test. The adhesion interaction decreased with the addition of silica nanoparticle and POSS while it increased with the addition of GPTMS in TEOS solution.