It is well known that the deposition of gaseous pollutants and aerosols plays a major role in
causing the deterioration of monuments and built cultural heritage in European cities. Despite
of many studies dedicated to the environmental damage of cultural heritage, in case of cement
mortars, commonly used in the 20th century architecture, the deterioration due to air multipollutants
impact, especially the formation of black crusts, is still not well explored making
this issue a challenging area of research.
This work centers on cement mortars – environment interactions, focusing on the diagnosis of
the damage on the modern built heritage due to air multi-pollutants. For this purpose three
sites, exposed to different urban areas in Europe, were selected for sampling and subsequent
laboratory analyses: Centennial Hall, Wroclaw (Poland), Chiesa dell'Autostrada del Sole,
Florence (Italy), Casa Galleria Vichi, Florence (Italy). The sampling sessions were performed
taking into account the height from the ground level and protection from rain run off
(sheltered, partly sheltered and exposed areas). The complete characterization of collected
damage layer and underlying materials was performed using a range of analytical techniques:
optical and scanning electron microscopy, X ray diffractometry, differential and gravimetric
thermal analysis, ion chromatography, flash combustion/gas chromatographic analysis,
inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer. The data were elaborated using
statistical methods (i.e. principal components analyses) and enrichment factor for cement
mortars was calculated for the first time.
The results obtained from the experimental activity performed on the damage layers indicate
that gypsum, due to the deposition of atmospheric sulphur compounds, is the main damage
product at surfaces sheltered from rain run-off at Centennial Hall and Casa Galleria Vichi. By
contrast, gypsum has not been identified in the samples collected at Chiesa dell'Autostrada del
Sole. This is connected to the restoration works, particularly surface cleaning, regularly
performed for the maintenance of the building.
Moreover, the results obtained demonstrated the correlation between the location of the
building and the composition of the damage layer: Centennial Hall is mainly undergoing to
the impact of pollutants emitted from the close coal power stations, whilst Casa Galleria Vichi
is principally affected by pollutants from vehicular exhaust in front of the building.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unibo.it/oai:amsdottorato.cib.unibo.it:2264 |
| Date | 13 October 2009 |
| Creators | Ozga, Izabela Joanna <1982> |
| Contributors | Sabbioni, Cristina |
| Publisher | Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna |
| Source Sets | Università di Bologna |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, PeerReviewed |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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