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Clay minerals in historic buildings

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Abstract

Although identified in heritage stones, clays are not always taken into full account in terms of negative effects due to their swelling ability (Delgado Rodrigues, Materiales de Construcción 51:183–195, 2001). The main purpose of this study is to identify clays in welded tuffs of three different historic monuments located in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, and to establish the clays’ contribution to the deterioration of the monuments by their swelling behavior. Thermal analysis, differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetry (TG), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), as well as supplementing data with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), have been used. Data suggest that clays present in welded tuffs of the historic monuments studied contribute to increased deterioration through osmotic swelling in two of the three monuments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Professor George Wheeler for his assistance with separation of clays and XRD analysis. Also, they would like to thank Prof. George Scherer for swelling measurements. Veridiana Reyes-Zamudio is grateful to Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico), for the fellowship to perform PhD studies; and also, to Professor George Wheeler for the support and advice during research stays at Columbia University and the Scientific Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Química, D.C.N.E., Universidad de Guanajuato, Noria Alta s/n, C.P. 36050, Guanajuato, GTO, Mexico

    Veridiana Reyes-Zamudio & Jorge Cervantes

  2. Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Eje Central Norte Lázaro Cárdenas 152, Col. San Bartolo Atepehuacan, C.P. 07730, Mexico City, Mexico

    Carlos Angeles-Chávez

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  1. Veridiana Reyes-Zamudio
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  2. Carlos Angeles-Chávez
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  3. Jorge Cervantes
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Correspondence to Jorge Cervantes.

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Reyes-Zamudio, V., Angeles-Chávez, C. & Cervantes, J. Clay minerals in historic buildings. J Therm Anal Calorim 104, 405–413 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-010-1041-0

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