An Approach to the Use of Glycol Alkoxysilane-Polysaccharide Hybrids in the Conservation of Historical Building Stones.

Stone consolidants have been widely used to protect historical monuments. Consolidants and hydrophobic formulations based on the use of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and alkylalkoxysilanes as precursors have been widely applied, despite their lack of solubility in water and requirement to be applied in organic media. In the search for a "greener" alternative based on silicon that has potential use in this field, the use of tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)silane (THEOS) and tris(2-hydroxyethyl)methyl silane (MeTHEOS) as precursors, due their high water solubility and stability, is proposed in this paper.