Surface degradation of indoor stonework in an anciente roman church: XPS and SEM/EDS investigation

The action of this work carried within the Italian Cultural Heritage framework was aimed at defining the main diagnostic aspects functional to the restoration of the interior of an ancient roman church - located near the centre of Rome along the river ‘Tevere’. The recourse to combined surface and sub-surface techniques, like XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) equipped with EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) for the X-ray microanalyses, has allowed to associate the surface chemical speciation (XPS) and elemental analysis (EDS) with the morphology and structure as revealed by SEM images, for each analysed sample. In the final step, the whole results were discussed and, having achieved a quite consistent interpretation of the experimental data, hypotheses could be formulated on the causes of degradation and properly considered for implementing rules in the subsequent restoration phases.