PRESERVATIONOF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES: THE POSSIBLE USE OF

SELF-CLEANING TREATMENTS

Enrico Quagliarini , Federica Bondioli , Placido Munafò , Giovanni Battista1 2 1

Goffredo1

1 DepartmentofArchitecture,ConstructionsandStructures(DACS),PolytechnicUniversityofMarche,viaBrecce

Bianche,60131,Ancona(Italy),e.quagliarini@univpm.it

2 DepartmentofMaterialsandEnvironmentalEngineering(DIMA),UniversityofModenaandReggioEmilia,via

Vignolese905,41100,Modena(Italy),federica.bondioli@unimore.it

ABSTRACT

The development and application of self-cleaning treatments on historical and architectural stone surfaces

could bring a significant improvement in their conservation, protection and maintenance. Titanium dioxide

nano-particles were used to obtain transparent self-cleaning coatings on stone surfaces activated by

ultraviolet light (including UV rays of solar light). The aim of this investigation is to evaluate its potential

use in the field of archaeological sites, since usually their maintenace is limited in comparison with other

monumentsorhistoricalsurfaces.

The travertine was used as the reference substrate. The maintenance of appearance properties of treated

surfaces was evaluated by colour and gloss analyses. The wettability of treated surfaces was monitored to

assess possible changes in surface properties of stones. De-pollution and soiling removal tests were carried

out under UV-light exposure to evaluate the self-cleaning efficiency. An outdoor monitoring was carried out

in order to evaluate the performace of treatments in a real exterior environmnet. The effects of deposited

amountoftitaniaontreatedsurfaceswerealsoevaluated.

Parole chiave/Key-words: Self-cleaning surfaces, Archaelogical sites, titanium dioxide, photocatalysis,

limestone