SANS investigation of the salt-crystallization- and surface-treatment-induced degradation on limestones of historic–artistic interest

We present here a small-angle neutron scattering investigation on typical limestone widely used in the Baroque architecture of Modica (eastern Sicily). The aim was to correlate the salt weathering and, after that, consolidating (using nanolime as consolidant product) behaviour of the mesoscopic features observed in the experiment, with particular regard to the pore structure, which determines the interaction between surface and environmental/consolidating agents. Experimental results have been interpreted in terms of a fractal model that revealed successful in characterizing physical properties induced by treatment, in order to predict the behaviour of consolidated stone against salt weathering. © 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.