Picture varnish acrylic

The first synthetic polymers to be used as paint varnishes were acrylic and vinylic resins. Poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc), commercialized under the name Mowilith by Hoechst and Vinylite by Union Carbide, has been used in conservation as an adhesive since 1932 and in 1937 it was proposed as a picture varnish by Stout and Cross [63]. PVAc was soon rejected as a varnish because, despite its light stability and good solubility in organic solvents, it demonstrated poor optical properties in terms of colour saturation and the tendency to pick up dirt due to its low glass transition temperature. 

Poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) began to be used as a picture varnish in the early 1930s. It encountered a considerable success because of its resistance to yellowing, adequate flexibility, no dirt pick-up and good solubility in nonpolar hydrocarbon solvents. Products based on PBMA, such as Elvacite 2044 and Elvacite 2045 by Du Pont, were abandoned when it was discovered that under light exposure they cross-link to an unexpected extent becoming insoluble [64]. From this point of view acrylic copolymers based on methyl and ethyl acrylates/methacrylates show a much better long-term stability. 

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