10º Congresso Internacional de Corrosão
22º Concurso de Fotografia de Corrosão e Degradação de Materiais
39ª Exposição de Tecnologias para Prevenção e Controle da Corrosão.

08/07/2025 – 11/07/2025

CDI – Centro de Difusão Internacional – USP

The challenge of preserving metallic Cultural Heritage: the Corrosion Science contribution

Several challenges are involved in preserving metallic Cultural heritage due to the chemical-physical properties of metals, the different environments of burial and successive storage, and finally the critical balance between the artifact´s integrity and the conservation process. By combining knowledge from chemistry, materials science and conservation, Corrosion Science plays an essential role in safeguarding metallic artifacts and, consequently, the historical and cultural knowledge embedded within them. Successful preservation requires an interdisciplinary approach that combines scientific research, technology, and conservation expertise. Thanks to the impressive improvements, over the past decades, of the analysis and investigation equipment, in situ non-intrusive characterizations of artifacts may be performed using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with portable instruments. As a matter of fact, archeological and historical metallic objects are made from complex alloys, bronze, brass, silver and steel, with different corrosion rates and degradation behaviors depending on their composition. This variety presents a challenge in choosing the most appropriate conservation methods for each specific alloy. Moreover, preventive conservation is crucial for ensuring long-term preservation and has to consider the study and implementation measures to control environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, light, and pollutants, without invasive interventions. Some case studies will be presented, object of the activity of the multidisciplinary research group CoMeTA (Corrosion Measurement Tools for Artefacts) of the Politecnico di Torino, carried out using a multi-analytical approach. The artefacts under study are of different materials, of different ages with different challenges to face for choosing restoration materials and methods ethically sound and environmentally friendly.

Profa. Emma ANGELINI

Emma ANGELINI, graduated in Chemistry at the University of Torino in 1975, she actually works in the Department of Applied Science and Technology, where she was nominated in 1976 Assistant of Physical Chemistry at Politechnic of Torino, in 1985 Associate Professor of Chemistry in the Faculty of Engineering, Politechnic of Torino, in December 2003 Professor of Applied Physical Chemistry. She has been member of the Academic Senate of Politechnic of Torino from November 2001 to November 2003. From 2017 she is Vice-President of the ICCInternational Corrosion Council. She teaches Chemistry in the courses of Electronic Engineering, and in the field of e-learning she recorded a course of Chemistry broadcasted by RAI NETTUNO SAT1 and RAI NETTUNO SAT2, by means of HotBird satellite of EUTELSAT. From 2012 till now she is Fellow of ASP (Alta Scuola Politecnica). She is responsible for research projects in the following fields: i) protection of cultural heritage, ii) biomaterials to be employed in restorative dentistry, iii) innovative alloys for employments in electrocatalysis, iiii) surface modification of materials by low pressure plasmas. She is responsible of: (i) Galileo Cooperation Program between Italy and France for the study of a Methodology for the evaluation of the corrosion degree and of the effectiveness of recovering treatments on archaeological metallic artefacts; (ii) European Project Growth NANOMAG (Development Of Innovative Nanocomposites Coating for Magnesium Castings Protection 2002-2005), European Project MATECO (New coatings deposited by PACVD for corrosion protection 2004-2007; (iii) European Project INCOMED EFESTUS (Tailored strategies for the conservation and restoration of archaeological value Cu-based artefacts from Mediterranean Countries 2003-2005), European INCO-MED Project PROMET (Innovative conservation approaches for monitoring and protecting ancient and historic metals collections from the Mediterranean basin 2004-2007, European Project MEDAL – INCOMED – SSA (Mediterranean Conservation Alliance 2007- 2008); Progetto Europeo CBWRMED (INCO-2010-6: Capacity Building for Direct Waste Reuse in the Mediterranean Area, 2010-2013), Bilateral Project of high relevance Italy-Egypt (Survey, documentation and characterization of the metallic artefacts stored in the basement of the Curriculum Vitae Emma ANGELINI Egyptian Museum and monitoring of the basement environmental conditions, 2016-2018); Internationalization Projects of Politecnico, Italy-Colombia: Developing cooperation in corrosion science and engineering; Italy-Israel: Tailored strategies for increasing resilience of Cultural Heritage. She is National Expert of MIUR in the International Cooperation Committee (INCO) of FP7. She is scientific referent for two memorandums of understanding for the dissemination of knowledge in the historical scientific field between the Politecnico di Torino-DISAT and the Museo Galileo-Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence and the Museo dell'Arte della Lana of Stia (Arezzzo); in the frame of these protocols, she carries out activities of planning and realization of activities and events aimed at disseminating and divulging scientific knowledge to a wide audience.