Dr. Enrico Sassoni
Dept. Civil & Env. Eng.
Eng. Quad. E-226
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544 USA
Project: Conservation of Marble Artworks
I am a postdoctoral researcher visiting from the University of Bologna (Italy) and I am funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. My period working with Prof. Scherer, from September 2015 to February 2017, is the first phase of the project HAP4MARBLE ("Multi-functionalization of hydroxyapatite for restoration and preventive conservation of marble artworks"), funded by the European Commission (https://events.unibo.it/hap4marble). My research activity will be dedicated to further developing and multi-functionalizing an innovative treatment based on hydroxyapatite (HAP) for the conservation of marble artworks. The idea on which the HAP-treatment is based is that HAP, the mineral constituting human teeth and bones, can be formed directly inside microcracks in weathered marble and over marble surface by reacting the calcium-rich substrate with an aqueous phosphate solution. Newly formed HAP is able to bond calcite grains, thus restoring cohesion and mechanical properties of weathered marble, and to increase marble dissolution in rain, thanks to the much lower solubility of HAP compared to calcite. My work in Princeton will be mainly aimed at optimizing the HAP treatment parameters and at providing the treatment with new functionalities, such as desulphation and self-cleaning ability.
Research Interests:
- Conservation of Stone buildings