Abstract
Deterioration of metallic and non-metallic structures and monuments is largely controlled by their surrounding environment. The Taj Mahal, a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage situated in Agra of India built in seventeenth century using white marbles, is famous for its aesthetic look. Gradual yellowing and blackening of the monument are matter of great concern, and if not controlled, the heritage structure may lose its glaze and beauty. Extensive studies available on deteriorating effect of the monument miss a vital point related to the pollutants coming from severely polluted River Yamuna which flows very close to the Taj Mahal. To ascertain the possible effects of the pollutants carbon steel, copper and zinc samples were exposed for four years at the premise of Taj Mahal. The surface characterization of the exposed metals with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction reveals the formation of respective sulphides of the studied metals. The findings suggest that the hydrogen sulphide from the polluted Yamuna River had damaging effect. The wind rose diagram developed at site of exposure further supports the above findings. The corrosion rate of copper was found to be 2.46 µm/year. This observation as well as identification of corrosion products formed on the metal surface (strong peaks of copper sulphide) provided strong evidences that the hydrogen sulphide evolved from the polluted river accelerated the deterioration of the metal.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agra Environment Management Plan (2002) Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, Agra O_ce: Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, January
Alhozaimy A, Hussain RR, Al-Negheimish A, Al-Zaid R, Singh D (2014) Effect of simulated concrete pore solution chemistry, chloride ions, and temperature on passive layer formed on steel reinforcement. ACI Mater J 111(4)
Al-Negheimish A, Alhozaimy A, Hussain RR, Al-Zaid R, Singh J, Singh D (2014) Role of manganese sulfide inclusions in steel rebar in the formation and breakdown of passive films in concrete pore solutions. Corrosion 70(1):74–86
ASTM-G1-90 (1999) Standard practice for preparing, cleaning and evaluating corrosion test specimens. ASTM International, West Conschohocken
ASTM-G50-76 (1992) Practice for conducting atmospheric corrosion metals. ASTM International, USA
Banerjee D, Sarkar S (2016) Chemistry and deposition of airborne particulates on the Taj Mahal at Agra India. In: Proceedings of the natural and building stones, Stuttgart, Germany, March 11–12, 2016, pp 16–24
Banerjee D, Sarkar S (2019) Chemical and bioligical onslaught of anthropogenic airborne species on the heritage monument of Taj Mahal. Heritage 2(2019):2137–2159
Bergin MH, Tripathi SN, Jaidevi J, Gupta T, Mackenzie M, Rana KS, Shafer MM, Villalobos AM, Schauer JJ (2015) Discoloration of Taj Mahal due to particulate carbon and dust deposition. Environ Sci Technol 49(2015):808–812
Bouchard-Abouchacra M (2001) Cited by Ray L.Frost, P.A.Williams,W.Martens, P.Leverett, and J.T.Kloprogge, American Minerologist 89, 2004, pp1130–1137
Coatings manual (2011) HRSD OD/Coatings manual 2011 appendix a -1- 9/7/05, appendix a, Basics on corrosion in wastewater collection and treatment systems: the corroding environments and materials
Cole IS, Paterson DA, Furman SA, Neufeld AK, Ganther W (1999) A holistic approach to modelling atmospheric corrosion
Ghosh R, Singh DDN (2007) Kinetics, mechanism and characterisation of passive film formed on hot dip galvanized coating exposed in simulated concrete pore solution. Surf Coat Technol 201(16–17):7346–7359
Goldstein AH, Schade GW (2000) Quantifying biogenic and anthropogenic contributions to acetone mixing ratios in a rural environment. Atmos Environ 34(29–30):4997–5006
Gorbushina A, Krumbein W, Hamman C, Panina L, Soukharjevski S, Wollenzien U (1993) Role of black fungi in color change and biodeterioration of antique marbles. Geomicrobiol J 11(3–4):205–221
Graedel T, Nassau K, Franey J (1987) Copper patinas formed in the atmosphere—i. Introduction. Corros Sci 27(7):639–657
Hatcher NA, Jones CE, Weiland GS, Weiland RH (2014) Predicting corrosion rates in amine and sour water systems. Gas 25
Hicks BB, Kumari M (1987) Marble discoloration at the Taj Mahal: a proposed explanation. In: Proceedings of the ICOMOS 8th general assembly and international symposium, Washington, DC, USA, 7–15 October 1987, pp 325–332
FAL HN, Farzaneh F (2006) Synthesis of zno nanocrystals with hexagonal (wurtzite) structure in water using microwave irradiation
IS-5182 (2006) (part 23) methods for measurement of air pollution. In: Respirable suspended particulate maiter (PM10), cyclonic flow technique. Bureau of Indian Standard
Ishii M, Shibata K, Nozaki H (1993) Anion distributions and phase transitions in cus1-xsex (x= 0–1) studied by raman spectroscopy. J Solid State Chem 105(2):504–511
ISO-9226 (1991) Corrosion of metals and alloys. In: Corrosivity of atmospheres. Method for determination of corrosion rate of standard specimens for the evaluation of corrosivity. International Standards Organization, Geneve
Kim SC, Kim JW, Chung H-S, Kim DH, Oh KH (2009) Thermal stability of ZnS nanowires studied by using in-situ heating x-ray diffraction. J Korean Phys Soc 55(3):978–981
Kirk W, Lawson HH (1995) Atmospheric corrosion. ASTM, West Conschohocken
Kolthoff I (2002) The solubilities and solubility products of metallic sulphides in water. J Phys Chem 35(9):2711–2721
Leuenberger-Minger A, Faller M, Richner P (2002) Runoff of copper and zinc caused by atmospheric corrosion. Mater Corros 53(3):157–164
Lodge JP Jr (1988) Methods of air sampling and analysis. CRC Press, Boca Raton
SAMPLER HVH (1999) Sampling of ambient air for total suspended particulate matter (spm) and pm10 using high volume (hv) sampler
Sharma RK, Gupta HO (1993) Dust pollution at the Taj Mahal—a case study. In: Thiel MJ (eds) Proceedings of RILEM/UNESCO congress. E & F. N. Spon, London, pp 11–18
Sharma JS, Sharma DN (1982) Atmospheric contamination of archaeological monuments in the Agra Region (India). Sci Total Environ 23:31–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-1116(08)70988-9
Sharma R, Sharma B, Bisen D (2011) Photoluminescence of ZnS and ZnS: Mn nanoparticles. CSVTU Res J 4(1):25–27
Simpson MW (1998) License-plate cosmetic corrosion tests of automotive coated steel sheet. Natl Assoc Corros Eng, Corrosion 98:553
Singh JK, Singh DDN (2012) The nature of rusts and corrosion characteristics of low alloy and plain carbon steels in three kinds of concrete pore solution with salinity and different pH. Corros Sci 56:129–142
Singh DDN, Yadav S, Saha JK (2008) Role of climatic conditions on corrosion characteristics of structural steels. Corros Sci 50(1):93–110
Sridev D, Rajendran K (2009) Synthesis and optical characteristics of zno nanocrystals. Bull Mater Sci 32(2):165–168
Thierry D, Massinon D, Hugot-Le-Goff A (1991) In situ determination of corrosion products formed on painted galvanized steel by Raman spectroscopy. J Electrochem Soc 138(3):879
Thongtem T, Phuruangrat A, Thongtem S (2007) Synthesis and analysis of CuS with different morphologies using cyclic microwave irradiation. J Mater Sci 42(22):9316–9323
Thongtem T, Phuruangrat A, Thongtem S (2009) Formation of CuS with flower-like, hollow spherical, and tubular structures using the solvothermal-microwave process. Curr Appl Phys 9(1):195–200
Wang S-Y, Wang W, Lu Z-H (2003) Asynchronous-pulse ultrasonic spray pyrolysis deposition of CuxS (x= 1, 2) thin films. Mater Sci Eng B 103(2):184–188
Wu H-Q, Wei X-W, Shao M-W, Gu J-S, Qu M-Z (2002) Synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using carbon nanotubes as templates. Chem Phys Lett 364(1–2):152–156
Zhou R, Wu X, Hao X, Zhou F, Li H, Rao W (2008) Influences of surfactants on the preparation of copper nanoparticles by electron beam irradiation. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res Sect B 266(4):599–603
Acknowledgements
The data reported in this paper were generated under the project initially funded by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and their contribution is gratefully acknowledged. We are thankful to Dr. Johan Tidblad of SWEREA, Sweden, for his support during this study. We also acknowledge support of CPCB, Project Office, Agra, India, for exposure of the test specimens, maintenance and safety of the racks, collection of the environmental data and withdrawal of the corroded specimens. We also express our thanks to the Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board and CSIR—National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, to agree for the publication of the results generated during this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Samareh Mirkia.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, . ., Paswan, ., Saha, D. et al. Role of air pollutant for deterioration of Taj Mahal by identifying corrosion products on surface of metals. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 829–838 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03613-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03613-7