This work attempts to show the usefulness of vibrational spectroscopy (i.e., FTIR and Raman) in the analysis of major components of the original structure materials of a heritage monument (Tropaeum Traiani, Adamclisi). The features of materials and indoor microclimatic variables (i.e., temperature and relative humidity), on the periods of the monitoring campaigns, were considered. As the conservation must make sure about the physicochemical and structural aspects of the materials, assessment of the environmental impact, deterioration processes and characterization of ancient building materials are useful to understand the chemical evolution in the past, predict the various trends in the future, choose the suitable restoration methods to preserve their present state, and even to describe the alteration process of materials and modification through time. The surface of original structure materials used until present seems not to be affected at major scale by the indoor microclimate variables. But even high recorded relative humidity levels promote the occurrence of amorphous calcium carbonate, calcite, aragonite and vaterite highlighted by vibrational spectroscopy data (i.e., FTIR and Raman), as a first effect, the development of biological organism can be enhanced, depending on the characteristics of the substrate. Second, atmospheric pollutants can be dissolved easier in the humidity existing in the porous material, and lastly, if the waterflow inside the stone is not homogeneous, cracks could appear due to differences in permeability.

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Transparent conducting oxides like indium tin oxide (ITO) and fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) represent an active area of research in the field of nanomaterials. This study aims to investigate the surface profile of the ITO and FTO coated glass used for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) manufacturing process. The surface morphology of the samples was probed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique was used in order to obtain the topography and roughness for these samples.

This paper explains and demonstrates a method to interconnect the video detection data flow with an innovative coded grid in order to precisely associate absolute coordinates to any scanned (micro) objects over a large area, without the aid of external bulky sensors. The concept of measuring micro-objects absolute coordinates is based on a series of coded information markings (micrometric terminal blocks) regularly and precisely printed on the bottom reference surface. In this manner the image processing could extract the values of the coded markings and precisely provide absolute coordinates for the camera image. The correspondence between the object and its absolute coordinates seems therefore straightforward. A very important challenge which must be solved is to read the information in real time, the method solving an optimization problem between the required processing speed and the maximum computing system resources. Finally it was obtained an innovative mechatronic system made of two essential sub-systems: the vision detection for micro-objects absolute reference positioning and characterization and a 3D micro-robotic translator for working space displacement. This system insured automatic scanning of micro-objects over large working spaces, detection process storing all specific information into a unique database file, which the operator can easily use to assign a set of automatic “pick-and-place” tasks for various micro assembly processes, as presented in the application example.

The present paper is focused on the microclimatic investigation and weather-climatic phenomena matrix assessment, which can be generated for heritage objectives at different spatial and temporal resolutions, correlated with physicochemical analysis of the particulate matter (PM2.5-10). In the literature the importance of atmospheric PM monitoring in the proximity of monuments is not yet sufficiently highlighted. In this respect, the microclimatic investigation of the Tropaeum Traiani Monument (Adamclisi, Romania) was performed to assess the suitability of a closed environment, located outdoors, according to the conservation requirements of heritage materials. The monitoring campaigns (four seasons, e.g., from summer of the year 2018 to spring of the year 2019) were carried out by non-invasive measuring equipment. The collected data were used to investigate the hygrothermal and chemical behavior inside and outside of Tropaeum Traiani Monument, built in 109, to assess the risks on the oldest structural material. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics software to assess the similarities between the microclimatic parameters.