Here are presented the results of an experimental study conducted to investigate the physical- mechanical performance of white cement bound products. White cement is a key ingredient in buildings with unplastered concrete blockwork facades of special architectural value. A metakaolin pozzolan is used instead of the more commonly used dark grey silica fume. An acrylic product is used as superplasticizer, testing different concentrations in an effort to reduce the larger amount of water required by white cement pastes. The physical-mechanical properties of the examined mortars were found to depend decisively on the poor performance of the superplasticizer that proved to be unable to reduce the water-to-cement ratio significantly. On the other hand, the metakaolins tested, especially the products obtained by the calcination of Sardinian kaolinic clays, containing thermodynamically unstable silica phases, appeared to be more effective especially at short curing times.

Twenty lead finds, unearthed in Late Bronze–Early Iron Age levels at the Santa Barbara nuraghe situated at Bauladu in Sardinia (Italy), have been examined. Their chemical composition has been determined using the ICP-MS plasma-mass technique (Cu, Fe, As, Ag, Sn, Sb, Bi, Zn, Cs, Tl, Mo, Cd, In, Te, W, Th, U, Li, Se). Lead isotope ratios (208/206, 207/206, 206/204) have also been determined. The results are discussed in relation to the mineral source and some aspects of the metal extraction processes. The finds are composed of high purity lead obtained using a smelting at low temperature. Based on the isotope ratios it has been possible to establish that the metal originated from Sardinian ore deposits type.

Concrete is certainly the most widely used building material today. This explains to some extent why concrete is often regarded as an ideal means for "engulfing" industrial slag of mineral nature. The immobilization of certain hazardous substances contained in different types of waste has also been widely studied and numerous patents secured. The studies conducted by the authors concerning the potential use of this slag in the manufacture of cementitious materials.Data presented here confirm that the Kivcet slag can be used, after "adjusting" particle sizes where necessary, in the manufacture of cementitious materials, even for high performance products.However, despite their excellent performance, it should be recalled that the concentrations of heavy metals, in particular lead, contained in the resulting cementitious material, and in the eluates, often exceed the maximum permissible values.

The technological characteristics of the bricks used to build, in the 2nd century A.D., the Roman “Terme a Mare” baths situated by the sea in Southern Sardinia have been studied. Theopus testaceum appears to be in an advanced state of deterioration due to exposure for more than a thousand years to a highly-aggressive marine environment. Successive salt crystallization/solubilization cycles subject both the porous structure of the bricks and the lime mortar joints to stress which leads to pulverization, fractures and the breaking off of large pieces.

Changes in electrical resistance of tin dioxide based ceramic pellets have been studied (as received and doped with Tl, Zn, Rh, Cu, Pt, Ir, Cd and Co) in air and at various concentrations of nitrogen mixed with CO and SO 2 . In response to changes in the amount of adsorbed oxygen, the electric conductivity in direct current of the materials tested modifies accordingly. This behaviour is influenced by physical (diffusion in nitrogen) and chemical (CO and SO 2 oxidation) phenomena. It was showed that the electric answers of the sensors doped with Zn, Cu, Pt and Ir could be combined for the simultaneous determination of CO and SO 2 .