ANALYTICAL METHODS AND APPLICATIONS WITH LAB

This course is part of the teaching activity for the Masters level course in Conservation Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage. The course is divided into two modules. The primary objective of the first module is to guide the student in understanding electrochemical processes used in analytical chemistry and on cultural heritage when studying corrosion processes.
The second module is aimed at providing a knowledge of analytical chemistry that is used during the diagnosis and characterisation of archaeological, architectural and artistic artefacts. Analytical methods using chromatography and mass spectrometry (high and low resolution) will be studied in depth for both organic and inorganic compounds.
So the student will learn electrochemical, chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods for the characterisation of cultural artefacts. The student will also be introduced to the use of electrochemistry for the prevention and recovery of metallic objects from corrosive effects.

1. knowledge and understanding
i. know the relationship between the redox behaviour of materials used during the production of cultural artefacts and electrochemical methods for their analysis.
ii. Know the electrochemical principles behind corrosive processes.
iii. Understand the use of chromatographic and mass spectrometric instrumental methods during analysis and materials used in producing cultural materials.
2. Capacity to apply knowledge and comprehension
i. understand the specificity and role of analytical chemistry methods (electrochemical, chromatographic and mass spectrometric) for diagnosis and conservation of cultural heritage.
ii. Know how to apply the concepts learnt to understand which method is most useful in the prevention and restoration of a metallic object that has undergone corrosive degradation.
3) Judgement skills.
i) Know how to comparatively evaluate the effectiveness of different investigative strategies and combine the information obtained from electrochemical, chromatographic and mass spectrometric instrumentation.
ii) Develop a critical capacity to evaluate the performance of analytical methods when studying and preventing the degradation of cultural heritage.
4. Communication skills
i) Learn to correctly use the terminology and the language used in the fields of electrochemistry and corrosion.
ii) Improve written communication skills by presenting a full report on the laboratory practical experiences.
5. Learning skills
i) the ability to acquire the basic elements of the topics taught by the teacher in class and through the laboratory experiences, and completing the learning process through the consultation of bibliographic and online sources.

The student must be familiar with the basic concepts of both classical and instrumental analytical chemistry.

Module 1
Principles of electrochemistry. Potentials and electrochemical cells. Electric current and polarization of electrodes. Electrochemical analysis methods: potentiometry.
Dynamic electrochemical methods: solution voltammetry and solid particle voltammetry. Analysis of pigments, metals and alloys.
Corrosion and passivation of metals. Corrosion of alloys. Corrosion conditions: Pourbaix and Evans diagrams. Corrosion of archaeological bronzes. Protection techniques suitable for historical-artistic artifacts. Sacrificial anodes, protective films, corrosion inhibitors.
Module 2
Principles of preparative and analytical chromatography.
Liquid chromatography and gas chromatography
Principles of mass spectrometry.
Low and high resolution mass spectrometry
Hyphenated chromatographic-mass spectrometric techniques.
Mass spectrometry with an inductively coupled plasma source.

Laboratory experience
Electrochemical characterization and electrochromic properties of pigments. Galvanic and electrolytic cleaning of corroded coins. Evaluation of the use of corrosion inhibitors of copper and its alloys.
Chromatographic analysis by HPLC-DAD or color agents used in artifacts, use of Ion chromatography for the analysis of major anions and cations. Comparison of the results with ICP-MS analysis.

Lecture notes.
L. Campanella et al.: Chimica per l'arte. Zanichelli, 2007

learning evaluation
The written exam is divided into two parts, to evaluate learning of the two modules. It consists of a series of questions which the student must answer, demonstrating knowledge and know how by explaining the topics covered by the course.
Language usage and the ability to identify and critically evaluate analytical techniques and their application to cultural heritage will be evaluated.

Teaching methods
Teaching is organized in lectures and laboratory exercises. The learning of the theoretical principles underlying modern electrochemical and instrumental analytical chemistry techniques is integrated with laboratory experiences where the techniques discussed in class are applied.
The teaching material used will be available on the "Moodle" platform of the University from where it can be downloaded.

English

Teaching language
English

Sustainability
Attention is paid to the benefits in terms of sustainability that the use of electrochemical methods allow by preventing corrosion and preserving highly valuable artefacts using techniques with a low environmental impact. This reduces the massive use of chemicals.
It is also underlined how the use of advanced analytical methods allows the analysis to be carried out while significantly reducing the quantities of both sample and reagents, with positive reflections on sustainability especially with regards to issues related to the production and disposal of chemicals for analytical use.

written and oral