Siliconic and Acrylic Resins Dispersed in Water as Protectives for Stone Surface

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to compare the protective effect of solvent and water dispersed products on marble, Lecce and Istria stones. This choice is justified by the need of products effective also from the ecological and toxicological point of view. To obtain these informations two tests have been chosen: contact angle and water absorption. The contact angle may, in theory, be considered a measure of the water repellency, since complete wetting implies a contact angle of 0° and absolutely no wetting an angle of 180°. This does not apply to the water absorption by capillarity test because the absorption variation may be caused by either the water repellency action of the treatments or by the pore filling. However this test may give practical information about the general effect of the treatments. Moreover, the effect of treatments on permeability was investigated by vapour permeability test. Protective effect was studied after application of the products and at various stages of artificial weathering.