Integrated biological and chemical characterisation of a pair of leonardesque canal lock gates

Abstract

The Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia “Leonardo da Vinci” in Milan is exposing two pairs of canal lock gates, used to control the water flow in Milan canal system, whose design appears in the Leonardo’s Codex Atlanticus. The wood present in the gates has been deeply characterised by mean of a multidisciplinary investigation involving i) DNA barcoding of wood fragments; ii) microbial community characterisation, and iii) chemical analyses. DNA barcoding revealed that two fragments of the gates belonged to wood species widely used in the middle age: Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies. The chemical characterisations were based on the use of ionic liquid as dissolving medium in order to analyse the entire cell wall material by means of Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC) and 2D-NMR-HSQC techniques. This multidisciplinary analytical approach was able to highlight the complex nature of the degradation occurred during the gate operation (XVI-XVIII centuries): an intricate interplay between microbial populations (i.e. Shewanella), inorganic factors (i.e. iron from nails), physical factors and the lignocellulosic material.

Comparative Analysis of Cellulose, Hemicellulose and Lignin on The Physical and Thermal Properties of Wood Sawdust for Bio-Composite Material Fillers

“…This element is found in hardwood and softwood. The ranges 1750-1500cm -1 a peak appearance absorbance at 1650cm -1 shows C=C stretching vibration identified carbonyl compound group [39,40].…”