Nano Particles and Nano Composites for Preservation of Historic Marble Minbars with Application on the Minber of Soliman Pasha Al-Khadim Mosque in Salah El-Din Citadel in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Minbar, in Islam, the pulpit from which the sermon ( khutbah ) is delivered. In its simplest form, the minbar is a platform with three steps. Often it is constructed as a domed box at the top of a staircase and is reached through a doorway that can be closed. Soliman pasha Al-Khadim mosque in Salah El-Din citadel in Cairo is considered the first mosque with ottoman architectural style. This Minbar exposed to aggressive human intervention by mosque workers and archaeological crafts unity-ministry of antiquities in Egypt, to lose more of its historical and architectural values. Now this Minbar undergoes restoration process, they are removing all modern pigments and remains of last reconstruction in 2014 so we proposed some Nano particles and Nano composites for Preservation of it. The study started with the characteristics of the historic architectural elements of Mibars and their joining structural mortars in order to risk assessment and to define the necessary characteristics of the intervention retrofitting new materials, which will be used in the ongoing preservation work of these stucco architectural elements. To achieve such, several analyses and laboratory tests like ultra-sonic pulse method testing and uniaxial compression test were carried out to determine their basic, physical and mechanical properties, along with the microstructural properties determination using Mercury porosimeter. On the other hand, the morphological description, petrography, mineralogical and microstructural properties were determined using scanning electron microscope equipped by EDS, transmission electron microscopy TEM, polarizing light microscopy, XRD and XRF. The results proved the superiority of the samples that have been strengthened by nano lime concentration of 2% with Wacker OH 100 concentration in 5%.