Small angle neutron scattering investigation of microporosity in marbles

Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements have been carried out on different marble and limestone samples, of relevance to cultural heritage safeguard, to investigate the micropore size distribution. Different varieties of marble have been studied using a CaCO3 single crystal as a pore-free reference. A series of red scaglia limestone samples has also been studied, obtaining in this case identical SANS cross sections for specimens issued from a modern quarry and for samples issued from an historical building. The micropore volume distribution functions, obtained from the SANS data, are compared with porosimetry results.