ABSTRACT
The object of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of two new nanomaterials on the stone of the Temples Valley. This stone is a biocalcareous shellstone belonging to the so called “formation of Agrigento”, composed of a succession of clays, sandy clays, sands and calcareous shell stones in heterotopy, sometimes in form of biocalcareoudites, with cross stratification levels constituted by fossil fauna, lower Pleistocene aged (Brai et al. 2004, Cotecchia et al. 1995). It is extremely porous and hydrophilic, with a size of rock grains from 0.2 to 8 mm, and an open porosity around 27%. This characteristic, added to a high presence of soluble salts, often causes strong erosion on the block surfaces, with irregular cavities on the surface, frequently covered by stone detached grains (Rossi Manaresi & Ghezzo 1978). After these considerations, we can state that the decayed stone has to be treated by a consolidant in order to restore the original intergranular cohesion. Moreover, since water infiltration is at the base of all the decay phenomena, it would be avoided by applying a hydrophobic product on the stone surfaces. The research project here presented, developed through the cooperation between the University of Palermo and the TEP-243 Nanomaterials group from the University of Cadiz, aims at synthesizing two nanostructured products with consolidant and consolidant/hydrophobic properties, and testing them on some stone samples collected directly on the archaeological site of Agrigento.
