Effectiveness and Compatibility of a Novel Sustainable Method for Stone Consolidation Based on Di-Ammonium Phosphate and Calcium-Based Nanomaterials.

External surfaces of stones used in historic buildings often carry high artistic value and need to be preserved from the damages of time, especially from the detrimental effects of the weathering. This study aimed to test the effectiveness and compatibility of some new environmentally-friendly materials for stone consolidation, as the use thereof has been so far poorly investigated. The treatments were based on combinations of an aqueous solution of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and two calcium-based nanomaterials, namely a commercial nanosuspension of Ca(OH) and a novel nanosuspension of calcite.

Pigment and Binder Concentrations in Modern Paint Samples Determined by IR and Raman Spectroscopy.

Knowledge of the techniques employed by artists, such as the composition of the paints, colour palette, and painting style, is of crucial importance not only to attribute works of art to the workshop or artist but also to develop strategies and measures for the conservation and restoration of the art. While much research has been devoted to investigating the composition of an artist's materials from a qualitative point of view, little effort has been made in terms of quantitative analyses. This study aims to quantify the relative concentrations of binders (acrylic and alkyd) and inorganic pigments in different paint samples by IR and Raman spectroscopies.

Laser ablation-ICP-MS depth profiling to study ancient glass surface degradation.

In general the analysis of archeological glass represents a challenge for a wide variety of objects because of the presence of physical and/or chemical damage on the surface of the artifact, also known as weathering or corrosion. To retrieve accurate bulk elemental information by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), the original, pristine glass needs to be "reached", thereby penetrating the alteration layer which is often more than 10 μm thick. To study this alteration layer the laser was operated in the drilling mode, either with a low (1 Hz) or a high (10 Hz) pulse repetition rate for a period of 50 s yielding detailed spatial information for ca.

An EPR study on ancient and newly synthesised Egyptian blue.

Two sets of ancient Roman Egyptian blue (EB) samples and one set of EB samples synthesised in our lab, were analysed by EPR spectroscopy, a technique not commonly used in this field. The spectroscopic parameters obtained were used to attempt the discrimination of the provenance and of the manufacturing techniques of the investigated samples. The results obtained show that EPR technique could be very useful for this purpose.

Aragonite in Roman wall paintings of the VIII(a) Regio, Aemilia, and X(a) Regio, Venetia et Histria.

In the Roman wall paintings different white colours were used, named Paraetonium, Melinum, Anularia, Eretria, Argentaria, etc. FTIR, Raman spectroscopy and X-Ray diffraction were applied to study different white pigments, such as calcite, aragonite, dolomite and huntite, white carbonates present in archaeological findings from Roman walls in the Mediterranean region. This study showed that it is possible to distinguish and identify these components in white colours.

Effects of copper on Sambucus nigra L. seedlings studied by electron paramagnetic resonance and atomic absorption spectroscopies.

We present in this work preliminary results on the translocation of copper, manganese and iron from soil to leaves of Sambucus nigra L. seedlings in the presence of increasing copper concentrations in the growth medium. The use of electron spin resonance spectroscopy and the comparison with atomic absorption spectroscopy is not presently common in the study of metal absorption in plants.