Potential salt damage assessment and prevention based on micro samples

Assessment methods for potential salt damage on cultural heritage sites must fulfill what most often seems to be contradictory criteria: ensure a reliable diagnosis while using non-destructive measuring techniques. This work is a step down the road to overcome this contradiction, by performing a reliable diagnosis for salt damage assessment using micro samples (5-25 mg). Possibilities and limitations of the use of micro samples for assessment and prevention of potential salt damage are exam-ined, by comparing this method with well-known diagnosis methods.
When using smaller samples, more precise measurement methods are needed. The present work documents that the in-build high accuracy balance in the DVS instru-ment enables the precise determination of hygroscopic moisture even when usingmicro samples. Even the smallest sample size of 5 mg was sufficient to obtain re-liable hygroscopic moisture content results and to identify the presence of salts and determine the deliquescence point. Along with the determination of the deliques-cence point, the influence of the kinetics on the behavior of salt mixtures could be followed.