Graphiti: Cellulose/Graphene-based adsorbents for preventive conservation

Research Project, 2022 – 2023

Purpose and goal
The problem of indoor pollution is a growing issue for which the current state of the art lies in the use of poorly performing activated carbon. This issue is even more pronounced in preventive conservation of Cultural Heritage (CH), where the works of art act as a source of pollution, which triggers an acceleration of the artefact degradation, often in storage, leading to expensive restoration or even to their losses. In this project we aim at producing a new family of biobased absorbent where graphene will be employed to act as a performance booster.

Expected results and effects
Adsorbi has developed an important know-how regarding the development of novel high performing adsorbent for volatile organic compounds. Here we expect that graphene oxide will enhance adsorption efficiency for certain pollutants in particular aromatic ones such as C6H6. This will enable broadening the scope the use of the materials. Furthermore, the use of graphene oxide in the production process is expected to facilitate the dewatering, thus allowing the implementation of new routes of production with lower energetical and environmental impact.