• Debulpaep, Marjolijn
• Nuyts, Gert
• Jaroszewicz, Jakub
• Borondics, Ferenc
• Marchetti, Andrea
• Sanchidrian, Victoria Beltran
• Wael, Karolien De
• Van Bos, Marina
• Meyer, Steven De
• Otten, Elke

Abstract

<jats:p>Optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) is a recently developed molecular spectroscopy technique that allows to noninvasively obtain chemical information on organic and inorganic samples at a submicrometric scale. The high spatial resolution (≈450 nm), lack of sample preparation, and comparability of the spectral results to traditional Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy make it a promising candidate for the analysis of cultural heritage. In this work, the potential of O-PTIR for the noninvasive characterization of small heritage objects (few cubic centimeters) is demonstrated on a series of degraded 16th century brass and glass decorative elements. These small and challenging samples, typically encountering limitations with existing noninvasive methods such as macroscopic x-ray powder diffraction and μRaman, were successfully characterized by O-PTIR, ultimately identifying the markers of glass-induced metal corrosion processes. The results clearly demonstrate how O-PTIR can be easily implemented in a noninvasive multianalytical strategy for the study of heritage materials, making it a fundamental tool for cultural heritage analyses.</jats:p>

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• corrosion
• glass
• glass
• Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
• brass