Francesca Volpi

• Researcher at University of Pavia

Alginate biopolymer is widely employed in many industrial fields thanks to its pleasing features of biodegradability, biocompatibility, low toxicity, and relatively low cost. The gelling process of alginate with divalent cations is fairly simple and thus it is used as a versatile biomaterial to tailor the desired mechanical and moisture properties....

In this research, we analyzed two handwritten music parchments, dated back between the late 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, using non-invasive multiband (MBI) and reflectance transformation imaging (RTI), portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (p-XRF), and External Reflection FTIR spectrometry (ER-FTIR). The two parchment...

The study concerned a diagnostic spectroscopic campaign carried out on the panel painting depicting the Coronation of the Virgin (first half of the 15th century) by the late-Gothic Italian painter Michele di Matteo. The main aims were the identification of the original painting materials and the characterization of the painter’s artistic technique....

Scientific interest in analytical tools that enable reliable, repeatable, and rapid measurements without sampling is growing in the field of cultural heritage. Therefore, improving the use of methods that permit an efficient characterization of a wide range of materials through non-invasive and portable instruments, such as spectroscopies, is curre...

The manuscripts of Ludwig van Beethoven (Bonn, 1770 - Vienna, 1827) are a matter of numerous and different musicological research and studies since they represent the key to unlocking the composer's creative process, which has yet to be fully elucidated. In the printed and published versions of Beethoven's works, in fact, it is not possible to appr...

The cleaning of some wooden artefacts can be challenging due to peculiar surface roughness and/or particular finishing treatments that favour the deposition of dirt and contaminants. The most common cleaning system used by conservators is agar gel, characterized by its rigidity and brittleness, which challenges the cleaning of rough and irregular s...

The cleaning of string musical instruments is challenging due to the traditional finishing treatments used by the makers. Multilayered coating systems were applied to Western musical instruments, while the Nakdong technique was applied in East Asia. Furthermore, by restorations and performance, dust and grime were overlapped together with polishes,...

Aerosol behavior over the Himalayas plays an important role in the regional climate of South Asia. Previous studies at high-altitude observatories have provided evidence of the impact of long-range transport of pollutants from the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). However, little information exists for the valley areas in the high Himalayas where signific...

In this work, one of the two existing mandolins made by Antonio Stradivari has been investigated for the first time, as a rare exemplar of the lesser-known class of plucked string instruments. The mandolin was studied by non-invasive reflection Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) on different areas previou...

Emission of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from construction materials used to store or display artworks is a significant concern for cultural heritage stewards. In this study, a simple analytical protocol that evaluates the effect of off-gassed VOCs from construction materials on cellulose was developed. The study involved artificially...

The conservation process of historical musical instruments involves lots of different issues because, in most cases, musical instruments are played. One of the most frequent and delicate procedures for their preservation is to remove soil and dust that have been accumulated on the instruments surface. For the first time, bio-polymer gels made of Al...

The concentrations of submicron aerosol particles in maritime regions around Antarctica are influenced by the extent of sea ice. This effect is two ways: on one side, sea ice regulates the production of particles by sea spray (primary aerosols); on the other side, it hosts complex communities of organisms emitting precursors for secondary particles...

Some studies suggested a role of the atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and of its oxidative potential (OP) in determining adverse health effects. Several works have focused on characterisation of source contributions to PM OP, mainly using three approaches: correlation between OP and chemical markers of specific sources; use of OP as input variab...

The concentrations of submicron aerosol particles in maritime regions around Antarctica are influenced by the extent of sea ice. This effect is two way: on one side, sea ice regulates the production of particles by sea spray (primary aerosols) while, on the other side, it hosts complex communities of organisms emitting precursors for secondary part...

In spite of the widely recognized negative effect of air pollution on stone used in historic building heritage located in urban areas and the numerous studies internationally developed on this topic, gaps still remain in measuring deposition fluxes on architectural surfaces and developing proper tools for short- and long-term management of cultural...

Gels have been recently introduced in conservation to better control the cleaning action. The slow solvent release is of the utmost importance to selectively remove varnish layers of few microns thickness, applied on painting layers which may have similar chemical properties. To evaluate the interactions of the underlying painting with solvents, di...

In February 2017 the “Carbonaceous Aerosol in Rome and Environs (CARE)” experiment was carried out in downtown Rome to address the following specific questions: what is the color, size, composition, and toxicity of the carbonaceous aerosol in the Mediterranean urban background area of Rome? The motivation of this experiment is the lack of understan...

Organo- and hydrogels have been proposed in the restoration field to treat different types of surfaces. The possibility to retain solvents and to have a controlled and superficial action allowed to use these materials for the removal of very thin layers applied on ancient historical objects, when the under paint layers are particularly delicate and...

Fully biodegradable novel bio-based organogels were developed for removing aged protective films from the surfaces of paintings, aiming at providing effective cleaning tools, easily controllable by reducing the solvent permeation into underlying paint layers and not dangerous for human health and the environment. The gels were based on poly-3-hydro...