December 5, 2012

UI researchers help find way to protect historic limestone buildings




Water-resistant coating guards limestone from pollution

Buildings and statues constructed of limestone can be protected from pollution by applying a thin, single layer of a water-resistant coating.

That’s the word from a University of Iowa researcher and her colleagues from Cardiff University in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, from the publishers of Nature. In the study, the researchers report a new way to minimize chemical reactions that cause buildings to deteriorate, according to Vicki Grassian, F. Wendell Miller professor in the UI departments of chemistry and chemical and biochemical engineering.