Roman Kozlowski

• Professor at Polish Academy of Sciences

Mechanical properties—modulus of elasticity and strain at break, water vapour sorption, and hygroscopic expansion of selected egg tempera and distemper paints were determined as a function of relative humidity (RH) filling in this way a critical gap in the knowledge required for the analysis of fracturing processes in paintings. The experimental wo...

Understanding how the evolving molecular composition of an oil paint layer on its transition to an aged solid film affects its dimensional change and mechanical properties is fundamental to the assessment of material durability and more broadly risk of degradation of oil paintings. Tensile properties—modulus of elasticity and strain at break—as wel...

Understanding canvas paintings as physical systems is fundamental to develop evidence-based environmental specifications for museums. A number of tests were carried out to determine mechanical properties of canvas, canvas sized with animal glue and animal glue-based ground layer (gesso) as a function of relative humidity (RH). The mechanical proper...

Budynek archiwum państwowego to miejsce służące przede wszystkim długoterminowej ochronie materiałów archiwalnych. Musi także spełniać wymagania stawiane przyjaznej instytucji publicznej, związane z obsługą i zaspokajaniem różnorodnych potrzeb użytkowników w zakresie działalności prowadzonej przez archiwa. Pełnione przez archiwa funkcje determinują...

Moisture adsorption and related dimensional change were examined in several samples of historic and contemporary parchment. The tensile behaviour was determined for contemporary parchment and two selected historic materials. The moisture-related data for most parchments are close to the contemporary material while aging and past treatments may lowe...

Sustainable management of cultural heritage collections requires tools that, on the one hand, quantitatively relate risk of damage to environmental impacts and, on the other hand, can be easily used by conservation professionals and decision makers in heritage buildings or buildings housing collections. This paper explains how continual processing...

The soiling of valuable surfaces indoors depends on particle size, concentration and chemical composition, air and surface temperature, air velocity and surface roughness. A growing body of research has pointed towards fine particles (size range 0.1–1 μm) as having particularly adverse soiling effect due to efficient penetration of gaps into the bu...

HERIe is a web-based decision-supporting software tool to facilitate the management of collection environments by precise assessment of climate-induced risk of physical damage to vulnerable objects. The software translates the relative humidity and temperature data recorded in the environment of the analysed object into a strain history experienced...

Moisture adsorption and diffusion were examined in 17 samples of historical and modern papers and cardboards, differing in the time of production and the pulping process. The moisture adsorption data for paper materials made of rags, gelatin-sized were close to each other whereas wood-pulp papers showed higher intra-group variability due to varying...

Much research has been focused on maintaining stable humidity conditions in buildings housing heritage collections while reducing energy use. Moisture buffering by collections themselves can have a marked effect on the stabilisation of relative humidity (RH), the key parameter for preservation. Modelling of moisture transport using COMSOL Multiphys...

The particle concentrations outside and inside two historical churches were monitored for at least ten months. The highest levels of outdoor concentrations were recorded in winter. This was caused by high levels of particle emissions from the burning of predominantly solid fuel for domestic heating in premises around the two churches monitored. The...

COMSOL Multiphysics was used to model the moisture uptake and release for library and archival collections in response to variations of temperature and relative humidity (RH) in their environment. These results were coupled to the modelling of indoor climate and energy consumption in collection storage spaces with the use of the WUFI®Plus software....

The drying shrinkage accumulation from exposure of freshly prepared gesso layers to relative humidity (RH) cycles was determined to elucidate the mechanism of craquelure pattern formation on panel paintings. The progresive drying shrinkage of the gesso is observed only under the cycles going to high RH levels which bring about transitions from brit...

Particle sources and deposition inside two historical churches, differing in size and construction were examined. The particle concentrations indoors and outdoors were monitored for at least 10 months. The air exchange rate (AER) was determined by fitting an exponential decay curve to the recorded concentration of indoor-generated CO2. The two-para...

Eleven wool and silk historic textiles and two modern artist's canvases were examined to determine their water vapour adsorption, moisture dimensional response and tensile behaviour. All the textiles showed a similar general pattern of moisture response. A rise in ambient relative humidity (RH) from dry conditions produced expansion of a textile un...

Roman cements were key materials used in the architecture of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fine cracks, caused by restrained shrinkage during drying, are a distinct characteristic of all Roman cement stuccoes. Today, cracking has become an important barrier preventing broader acceptance of Roman cement as a material by the restorati...

Numerical modelling was used to follow the moisture movement and strain in a composite system – an unrestrained, single wood panel coated with a layer of gesso, in response to cyclic sinusoidal variations in relative humidity (RH). The allowable magnitude of the variations, below which physical damage of the gesso layer on the wood does not occur o...

Oddajemy w Państwa ręce drugą broszurę z serii „Ochrona zbiorów”, która jest efektem współpracy Narodowego Instytutu Muzealnictwa i Ochrony Zbiorów z Muzeum Narodowym w Krakowie. Choć krótka, jest ważnym, bo bodaj pierwszym przedsięwzięciem, którego celem jest próba określenia optymalnego poziomu wahań temperatury i wilgotności w pomieszczeniach, w...

A broad category of cultural heritage objects are multilayer structures composed of organic, humidity-sensitive materials – wood, animal glue, paper, leather, bone or paints. They respond to variations in relative humidity (RH) in their environment by cyclically gaining and losing moisture, and consequently swelling and shrinking. Differences in th...

: The finite element method was used to model the moisture movement and strain in the wood supports of panel paintings, in response to changing climate conditions – temperature and relative humidity (RH). The material properties of lime wood (Tilia sp.), determined experimentally, were used in the modelling. Critical amplitudes of cyclic sinusoidal...

The Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB) three-parameter sorption equation has been used to interpret the adsorption and desorption isotherms of water vapour measured for 21 important cultural heritage wood species used in the past for panel paintings and woodcarving. The equation is capable of describing the full shape of the isotherms and yields mea...

Painted wood is a multi-layer structure composed of materials which swell or shrink differently in response to the sorption and desorption of moisture. The allowable levels of strain of the gesso layer were determined experimentally by subjecting specimens imitating historic panel paintings to mechanical stretching, and monitoring the development o...

Mercury porosimetry was applied to the study of pore structure of the historic Roman cement mortars representative of different locations in Europe and time periods as well as different application techniques from architectural castings to in situ formed renders and profiles. Three categories of pores were found to coexist in the mortars. The fines...

Roman cements were key materials for the economic and easy manufacture of render (stucco) for the exterior of buildings during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Fine surface cracks, caused by drying shrinkage, are a distinct characteristic of all Roman cement renders and architectural decorative details. Recently, Roman cements have been...

The content of this report is based on the results achieved during the EU funded project “Improved Protection of Paintings during Exhibition, Storage and Transit” – PROPAINT.The PROPAINT project (SSPI – 044254) is a Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP)within the Thematic Area 8.1. Policy Oriented Research: Scientific Support to Policies, in...

IR spectroscopy of NH3, CO, and CO2 as probe molecules was used to characterise surface acid and basic sites of vanadia grafted on γ-alumina. NH4+ and NH3 held coordinatively at the surface sites of varying acidity were detected. Two types of acidic alumina sites adsorbing NH3 coordinatively were postulated. They involve depleted aluminum atoms of...

The European project Friendly-Heating (FH): comfortable to people and compatible with conservation of artworks preserved in churches addressed the problems caused by the continuous or intermittent heating of historic churches, which disturbs the microclimatic conditions to which the building and the artworks preserved inside have acclimatised. As t...

Roman cement was patented in 1796 and used extensively throughout European architecture of the 19 th and early 20 th centuries before the domination of Portland cement and new architectural styles became established. It was characterised by a brown colour and a fast setting time, typically ~15 minutes. However, conservation of this architecture has...

Highly hydraulic binders, known as natural or Roman cements, were key materials for the economic and easy manufacture of stuccoes for the exterior of buildings during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Roman cements were produced by burning naturally occurring deposits of calcium carbonate rich in clay minerals. They were distinguished from other h...

Climate change has only recently begun to be considered as a relevant factor threatening built heritage, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes, and is now attracting interest both at research and policy levels. The Atlas of Climate Change Impact on European Cultural Heritage fills the existing gap in studies on the effects of future climate...

Mercury porosimetry, water vapour and nitrogen adsorption were used to follow the hydration of Roman cements — belite cements calcined at low temperature. Generally, unimodal distribution of pore sizes was observed, with the threshold pore width decreasing considerably with increasing curing time. An open porous structure with the threshold pore di...

Roman cement was a major material used in the architecture of the nineteenth and early twentieth century across Europe, until it was displaced by Portland cement, and is absent from the palette of materials from which conservationists may now select. Calcination of cement-stones and marls from six sites in Poland, Austria and the UK has been conduc...

Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring was used to trace directly the fracture intensity in cylinders of lime wood subjected to variations in temperature and relative humidity (RH) in their environment. High-frequency components produced by mechanical fracturing were extracted from the raw AE signals using the wavelet transforms. The accumulated energy...

Numerical modelling was used to follow the evolution of the moisture content gradient and the stress field resulting from the restrained differential dimensional response across a wooden cylinder, simulating sculptures, in response to variations in temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH). Material properties of lime wood (Tilia sp.) were used in...

Moisture absorption and diffusion, dimensional response, as well as the related stress field in materials constituting lacquer furniture were investigated to support the conservation treatment of the Mazarin Chest, renowned as one of the finest pieces of Japanese export lacquer from around 1640 preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London....

General' moisture sorption and swelling/shrinkage patterns which would apply as a first approximation to any wood species constituting cultural objects were proposed. They were obtained from the experimental data measured for 21 historically important wood species used in the past for panel paintings and woodcarving. Information on further wood spe...

The assessment of vibration levels that cause damage to canvas paintings travelling on loan has been hampered by the lack of direct measurements of the dimensional change of the canvas. The application of triangulation laser displacement sensors in this study has allowed direct continuous in-situ monitoring of the vibration of canvas during packing...

A novel approach is proposed to establishing target indoor microclimates suitable for the preservation of organic materials susceptible to fracture and deformation, such as wood and paints. It assumes that it is impossible to establish a priori the best RH level for the conservation of mixed collections containing organic materials as over many dec...

As a part of a major study on 19th century Roman cements a laboratory optimisation study of the calcination of two marls has been conducted within the temperature range 730 to 1100 °C. Strength assessment has shown that the optimum kiln conditions lie towards lower temperatures and differ for the two marls by no more than some 50 °C.This paper disc...

Triangulation laser displacement sensors were applied to the continuous in-situ monitoring of the dimensional response of the wooden altarpiece in the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Rocca Pietore, Italy, to variations in indoor temperature and relative humidity (RH) between December 2002 and March 2005. Further, a small inductive sensor was use...

Natural cements calcined at low temperatures, so-called Roman cements, formed an Important binder material In 19th century construction and facade decoration of many European cities and towns. As a rule, Roman cement mortars appear well preserved. In order to understand their range of composition and properties, a number of samples from historic bu...

The impact of electric overhead radiant heaters on the microclimate, air flows, transport and deposition of suspended particulate matter (SPM) was monitored between March 2004 and March 2005 in the historic churches of Saint Michael Archangel in Szalowa and Saint Catherine in Cracow (Poland). The measurements show that although irradiation at the f...

The monitoring of acoustic emission (AE) has allowed direct tracing of the fracturing intensity in wooden cultural objects exposed to variations in temperature and relative humidity (RH). High-frequency components produced by the mechanical fracturing were extracted from the raw AE signals using wavelet transforms. The accumulated energy of these c...

No Hydration of five Roman and American natural cements was analyzed using X-ray diffraction, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and scanning electron microscopy of cement pastes. Two cements were prepared in the laboratory by burning marls from geological sources in Poland (Folwark) and Austria (Lilienfeld). The selection of raw materials and burning...

no Marls were identified from a range of European sources and assessed for their Cementation Index, as proposed by Eckel. Two were selected for calcination in a laboratory kiln; one from Folwark in Poland (CI 1.75) and one from Lillienfeld in Austria (CI 2.03). Analysis of historical documents, while not revealing precise kiln conditions, does sugg...

Contents Part 1. General Aspects Prevention through awareness Choosing a heating system Reversibility of installation The problem of the microclimate o Physical integrity of works of art o Pollutant deposition and blackening of surfaces o Condensation of vapour excess o Biological decay Draughts Thermal Comfort Ventilation Organ conservation Heat...

The application of triangulation laser displacement sensors to the continuous in-situ monitoring of the response of wooden cultural objects to variations in temperature and relative humidity in their environment is reported. The sensors are robust, fast and precise, provide non-contact measurements, and are capable of operating in the field. They h...

The Wieliczka Salt Mine World Cultural Heritage Site contains many rock salt sculptures that are threatened by water vapor condensation from the mine ventilation air. Gaseous and particulate air pollutant concentrations have been measured both outdoors and within the Wieliczka Salt Mine, along with pollutant deposition fluxes to surfaces within the...

The chemical degradation of porous limestone due to its reaction with sulphur dioxide was investigated by determining amounts and distributions of sulphur-containing corrosion products in samples collected from historic buildings. Water vapour adsorption equilibria have been determined for limestones of varying petrology, and correlated with sulphu...

IR spectroscopy of NHâ, CO, and COâ as probe molecules was used to characterize surface acid and basic sites of vanadia grafted on γ-alumina. NHâ{sup +} and NHâ held coordinatively at the surface sites of varying acidity were detected. Two typed of acidic alumina sites adsorbing NHâ coordinatively were postulated. They involve depleted aluminum at...

Three lithological factors were identified as controlling the durability of the porous limestone from Pińczów. Coarse-grained texture, high crystallinity and lack of quartz give good weathering resistance to the stone. Gypsum formation deep within the stone fabric is the dominating deterioration factor. The structure of the stone controls the rate...

Decay of building stone used in Cracow area has been investigated by microscopical observations of thin sections of the stone, X-ray diffraction and SEM-EDAX analyses. Different types of limestone, both hard and porous, have been considered. The effects of exposure to wind, rain and air pollution were taken into account by collecting a large number...

The redox behavior of V-O layers supported on TiO2, Al2O3 and SiO2 has been investigated.

The redox properties of VO layers supported on TiO2, A12O3, and SiO2 have been examined and discussed in terms of structural models. On this basis monodispersed VO4 units are postulated on the (001) plane of anatase (TiO2), located at the cationic sites with two terminal and two bridging oxygens, one of the latter being removed on reduction. Dimer...

The crystal structure of of the brannerite type has been refined to R = 0.029. The space group is C2. The bond length-bond strength calculations indicate a short-range ordering of Mo6+ and vacancies, resulting in the formation of MoO⊘OMo clusters which are distributed at random in the host vanadate structure.

Phases of the formula Cu2+1−x−yCu1+yфxV2−2x−yMo2x+yO6, where фx represents a vacancy at Cu2+ site, have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction, DTA, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The extent of their homogeneity range has been established. All crystallize in the structure closely related to the brannerite type with the s...

The mechanism of solid-solid reactions in mixtures of the three components Mn2O3, V2O5, MoO3 has been studied by X-ray and thermogravimetric methods. The synthesis of Mn1-xfxV2-2xMo2xO6 (MV-100x) solid solutions proceeds along three main reaction paths: (a) direct formation from oxides due to efficient surface diffusion of MoO3 and V2O5 over Mn2O3...

Phases of the formula Mn1-xfxV2-2xMo2xO6 with the brannerite-type (alpha) structure, where f represents a vacancy at the Mn2+ site, have been sythesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction and DTA. The X-ray data are listed for MnV2O6 and solid solution with x = 0.40. They indicate the random distribution of V and Mo over the original V sites an...

It has been found that a solid-state reaction of CoMoO4 with TeO2 at 500°C yields a new compound of the formula CoTeMoO6. This compound is also formed in the course of annealing of CoMoO4-H6TeO6 mixtures. Another new compound, the cobalt molybdotellurate containing Te6+, was prepared by a solid-state reaction of Co5TeO8 with MoO3. It has the formul...

The structures of recently discovered new high-temperature modifications of cobalt molybdate, a'-and a''-CoMoO4, were determined. a'-and a''-CoMoO4 appear after the phase a-CoMoO4 is heated above the temperature range 700-1000°C. They seem to be the disordered modifications of a-CoMoO4 with metal atoms distributed at random in an a-CoMoO4 oxygen ne...

Polymorphic transformations of CoMoO4 were studied by means of high temperature X-ray measurements within the temperature range 25–1200°C. On heating phase a obtained from low temperature modification b a new modification a′ was discovered. Phase a obtained by thermal decomposition of solvated α-CoMoO4 shows different behaviour. At 700–930°C depend...

Application of triangulation laser displacement sensors has allowed for precise in-situmeasurements of short, medium and long-term dimensional responses of a variety of sculptedwooden elements to variations of temperature and relative humidity in their environment. Themain conclusion was that massive wooden elements are particularly endangered byme...

Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring was used to trace directly the fracture intensity in the clay-containing sandstone from Villamayor in Spain subjected to cycles of wetting and drying. The free expansion or contraction of clay-containing sandstone did not lead to mechanical damage as it was confirmed by lack of any AE signals. Only the restrained d...

Two principal categories of pores were distinguished in the Roman cement historic mortars. The finest pores with the diameter below 0.2 µm are present within the hardened aged Roman cement matrix. The larger 'air-pores' with the diameters between 0.2 – 4 µm are due to evaporation of water during the hydration process and their volume may be indicat...