Air
pollutants, which include particulate matter (PM), can cause damage in contact
with various surfaces. Of course, this also applies to surfaces of
museum/cultural heritage objects. It is the particulate matter in the
atmosphere (PM) that is most responsible for the deterioration of outdoor
materials, and the reactions between pollutants occur not only outdoors but
also in indoor spaces where air is not filtered. Air filtration can usually
only be established in new buildings, therefore older or historic museum
buildings, such as the National Museum of Slovenia building on Muzejska Street,
can be problematic in this respect.
It is believed
that future soiling (i.e. surface blackening due to particle deposition) of
stone heritage will be primarily caused by organic aerosols with different
chemical composition from that of the historic black crusts still present on
almost all monuments in Europe. However, very little is known about the
interactions between deposited organic PM and their underlying surfaces.
Therefore, the goals of this project are to i) recognize the damaging potential
of the organic fraction of atmospheric aerosols and ii) understand the modes of
action with which PM damages material surfaces, in order to iii) assess the
risk and recognize necessary actions for better protection of cultural heritage
in Slovenia, and worldwide.
We will
examine the conditions in two NMS spaces, in the building on Muzejska Street
and in the glass lapidarium adjacent to the building. In particular, we will
focus on representative materials in these two spaces, which are potentially
most sensitive to damage caused by PM, i.e. clay and stone.
The
research will be coordinated by the National Institute of Chemistry, (NIC,
Department of Analytical Chemistry) and will be carried out in cooperation with
the National Museum of Slovenia.
Project
website: https://www.ki.si/en/departments/d04-department-of-analytical-chemistry/research-activities/atmospheric-chemistry-arrs-j1-1707/