The deterioration of monumental stones is a common event occurring to our historical and cultural heritage, threatening the preservation of our social identity and its legacy to future generations. The prolonged effect of inclement weather is very harmful for particular stone materials such as limestone and dolomite, to which a truly effective and durable protective agent has not yet been found. Herein, an unprecedented performance of graphene oxide (GO) for the shielding of carbonated ornamental stones against environmental aggressions, namely intense rainfall and extreme temperatures, is demonstrated. A simple additive‐free aqueous suspension of GO serves as the perfect coating, exceedingly preventing from any kind of wear or erosion after different climatic simulations. Additionally, the stones’ original aesthetics is not altered (a critical issue in monuments), together with an improvement in their mechanical properties, reasserting the unique potential of GO for conserving exposed stone‐based monuments in an affordable, accessible, and revolutionary way.
Protecting Monumental Stones with Graphene Oxide The coating of carbonated stones from our historical heritage with an aqueous graphene oxide suspension is an efficient and cost‐effective method to shield them from climatic erosion, as presented in article number 2101012 by María Fernández‐Raga, Jose Miguel González‐Domínguez, and co‐workers. By simply spraying such additive‐free aqueous colloids on surface, an outstanding protective effect against rainfall and temperature is revealed, without altering the stones' original aesthetics.
Concern for the perpetuation of stone monuments is deeply ingrained in humans; however, despite the attempts made in this field, there is still a great deal of effort needed to bring about advancements in the conservation of ornamental stone. Erosive agents, such as rain, extreme temperatures, and chemical and biological agents, threaten our stone heritage and gradually wear away buildings, sculptures, and other monuments found all around the world. Limestone and dolostone have been widely used throughout history, given their ease of extraction and workability. Nevertheless, these properties make them particularly vulnerable to the aforementioned erosive agents, for which the main solution at present is costly and time‐consuming restoration. Given the scarcity of effective and durable agents to prevent the deterioration of ornamental and heritage stones, and as graphene oxide (GO) has recently shown impressive effectiveness for this task, this work will further explore the viability of GO as a protective coating for monumental dolostone. For this purpose, GO is sprayed over dolostone surfaces by water dispersion with no adjuvants. The coating performance is assessed in terms of thermal stress, optical inspection (structured light 3D scanner), colorimetry, leachate analysis, and electron microscopy. The main results show that spray‐coated GO over stone surfaces creates a highly protective and durable barrier without altering their aesthetic qualities.
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