Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of disinfection with penicillin and/or streptomycin, added to ethanol mist, on the surface properties of both model and historical leather materials from the collections of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (A-BSM) in Oświęcim, Poland. The experimental conditions involved application of 90% ethanol mist alone or with penicillin, streptomycin or a mixture of both antibiotics using an airbrush. Changes in the morphology, structure and chemical properties of the sample surfaces compared to non-exposed samples were evaluated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), confocal microscopy (CM) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Microscopic studies demonstrated that exposure to penicillin or the antibiotic mixture caused subtle smoothing and flattening of tested leathers and a significant reduction in contamination of biological and mineral origin. Decreases in fluorescence intensity and fluorescent layer thickness were also observed, which, according to the XPS results, may be caused by the removal of a large amount of surface deposits or the reveal of deeper leather layers that were previously covered with inorganic particles. Therefore, it can be concluded that the developed method of applying antibiotics in ethanol mist does not have any significant negative effect on the surface of model and historical leather.