APPLIED PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY TO CULTURAL HERITAGE - MOD. 2

The course is part of the core educational activities of bachelor's degree in Science and Technologies for Cultural Heritage (CT60), and it allows to acquire the basic knowledge and the understanding of chemical kinetics and the fundamentals of ultraviolet-visible, infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Chemical kinetics concerns the speed of reactions, and this branch of physical chemistry is important to understand and describe the main processes of alteration of cultural heritage and in the evaluation of the materials used for the conservation and consolidation of artistic artifacts. The knowledge of spectroscopy is crucial for CT60 graduates because in the field of cultural heritage almost all the diagnostic techniques are spectroscopic.

The expected learning outcomes are the knowledge and understanding of the concepts presented during the lessons and the ability to use them to solve theoretical and practical problems. Furthermore, students must be able to communicate the knowledge learned and the results of their applications using appropriate terminology.

The prerequisites of the course are the training objectives of the courses of Mathematics and Exercises and Organic Chemistry and Laboratory. In particular, students should know the basics of differential and integral calculus and also the nomenclature and structure of the main classes of organic compounds.

The course contents are divided into two parts: (1) chemical kinetics, (2) spectroscopy; at the beginning of the first lesson a short presentation of the course will be made.

- FIRST PART: CHEMICAL KINETICS
Rate of reaction. Rate laws and order of reaction. The main experimental techniques to monitor the progress of a chemical reaction. The isolation method. Method of initial rates. Integrated rate laws and integration method. Half-live of a reactant.
The dependence of rate of reaction on temperature: Arrhenius equation. Reaction mechanisms. Elementary reactions and molecularity. Consecutive, concurrent and parallel elementary reactions. Chain reactions. Catalysis. Homogeneous catalysis. Enzymatic catalysis: the Michaelis-Menten law.

- SECOND PART: SPECTROSCOPY
Electromagnetic radiation and the electromagnetic spectrum. Energy states of a free molecule and population levels. ultraviolet-visible (Uv-Vis) spectroscopy: introduction. Color of objects. Examples of Uv-Vis spectra. Instrumentation. Lambert-Beer Law. Types of electronic transitions. Chromophores and auxochromes. The characteristic absorption bands of some classes of organic compounds. Fluorescence and phosphorescence. Jablonski diagram. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy: introduction. The vibration of diatomic molecules, the harmonic oscillator model. The vibrations of polyatomic molecules: normal modes, vibrational transitions and corresponding absorption bands. Fermi resonance. Instrumentation and sample handling. General considerations about infrared spectra and absorption bands. Interpretation of infrared spectra. Characteristic IR absorption bands of some classes of organic compounds. Infrared spectra of some materials used in art and art conservation. Exercises on the interpretation of infrared spectra. Infrared reflection spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy: introduction and basic concepts. Instrumentation. Raman versus Infrared Spectroscopy. Examples of Raman spectra. Applications of Raman spectroscopy to cultural heritage.

For the theory:
• P. Atkins, J. De Paula, J. Keeler. Atkins’ Physical Chemistry, 11th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2018.

For spectral interpretation:
• R. M. Silverstein, F. X. Webster, D. J. Kiemle, D. L. Bryce. Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds, Eight Edition, Wiley, New York, 2015.
• R. M. Silverstein, C. G. Bassler, T. C. Morrill. Spectrometric Identification of Organic Compounds, fifth ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1991.
• D. W. Mayo, F. A. Miller, R. W. Hannah. Course notes on the interpretation of infrared and Raman spectra, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, 2004.
• M. R. Derrick, D. C. Stulik, J. M. Landry. Infrared Spectroscopy in Conservation Science, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 1999.

For further chemical kinetics exercises:
• A. Gambi. Esercizi di Chimica Fisica, Zanichelli, Bologna, 2013.

For the chemical kinetics part, the learning verification method consists of a written test, while for the spectroscopy part the test is only oral.

The written test in chemical kinetics consists of two exercises to solve and two questions to answer. The maximum score assigned to each exercise or question depends on their difficulty. This test aims to verify the acquisition of the concepts presented during the lessons and their application. The duration of the written test is ninety minutes and only the use of a scientific calculator and the consultation of a form provided by the teacher is allowed. The written chemical kinetics test can be replaced by an intermediate written test, to be taken after the last kinetics lesson.

The oral test of spectroscopy consists of a series of questions concerning the contents of the course. The first two questions concern the identification, using infrared spectra, of the type of materials and/or compounds used in the field of cultural heritage. Students must demonstrate the learning of the topics covered during the lessons and the ability to expose them in a formal manner. The oral examination in spectroscopy lasts approximately 40 minutes.

The final grade will be determined by considering the results obtained in both the written test of chemical kinetics and the oral one of spectroscopy. Specifically, the part related to chemical kinetics will have a weight of 1/3, while the part concerning spectroscopy will have a weight of 2/3.

Teaching is organized in lectures, including problem-solving exercises.

In the "Moodle" platform of the University there are all the slides projected during the lessons.

Italian

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF THE COURSE COULD CHANGE AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion

Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). In the case of disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

written and oral