{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,28]],"date-time":"2025-11-28T12:22:54Z","timestamp":1764332574294,"version":"3.46.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,27]],"date-time":"2025-11-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764201600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT\u2014Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia, I.P.","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UID\/50006\/2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UID\/50006\/2023"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"The Plastics Metamorphoses\u2014the reality and the multiple approaches to a material","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022.05086.PTDC"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022.05086.PTDC"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cellulose acetate (CA) is a semi-synthetic polymer widely present in modern and contemporary collections, yet its conservation poses major challenges due to its chemical and physical instability. Hydrolytic degradation, acetic acid release, plasticizer loss, and embrittlement compromise both structure and surface, making cleaning particularly difficult. Conventional cleaning methods may cause abrasion, extract additives, or alter gloss. Although hydrogels have shown promise for CA cleaning, the literature remains extremely limited. This study reports a preliminary investigation of gel-based cleaning on Le Rituel (1968), a heavily soiled cellulose acetate (CA) artwork by Jos\u00e9 Escada. The object\u2019s condition was assessed through visual inspection, pH measurements, volatile acidity testing, and infrared spectroscopy. Cleaning tests were conducted on a CA replica (2006) with superficial soiling and on selected artwork areas. Two gel formulations were evaluated: the biopolymer agar-agar rigid gel and the synthetic viscoelastic poly(vinyl alcohol)-borax (PVAl-Borax) gel. Agar-agar was effective as a first step, reducing superficial soiling and humidifying adherent residues for subsequent removal, while PVAl-Borax was advantageous in the second step, as its viscoelastic properties enabled controlled mechanical action and facilitated the removal of more adherent residues. This case study demonstrates the potential of combined gel systems as versatile tools for CA conservation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels11120954","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,28]],"date-time":"2025-11-28T11:19:51Z","timestamp":1764328791000},"page":"954","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Aging Characterization and Preliminary Exploration of Gel-Based Cleaning of Cellulose Acetate in Jos\u00e9 Escada\u2019s Le Rituel"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2445-9361","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Susana","family":"Fran\u00e7a de S\u00e1","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Conservation and Restoration, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3271-5353","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Babo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Conservation and Restoration, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4491-9217","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Artur","family":"Neves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The David Booth Conservation Center, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY 10019, USA"}]},{"given":"Alexandra","family":"Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Conservation and Restoration, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Nunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Conservation and Restoration, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-5613-1286","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aurora","family":"Cairoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Conservation and Restoration, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca\u2019 Foscari University of Venice, 30123 Venice, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Classics, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7393-6801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Jo\u00e3o","family":"Melo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LAQV-REQUIMTE, Department of Conservation and Restoration, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109420","DOI":"10.1016\/j.polymdegradstab.2020.109420","article-title":"Characterising Plasticised Cellulose Acetate-Based Historic Artefacts by NMR Spectroscopy: A New Approach for Quantifying the Degree of Substitution and Diethyl Phthalate Contents","volume":"183","author":"Aliev","year":"2021","journal-title":"Polym. 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