These techniques are very accurate and precise, giving a truthful characterization of the single specimen, at the expense of the need for sampling or the contact with the surface. Until recently, infrared spectroscopy applied to the study of Cultural Heritage artefacts has been mainly used in either transmission, attenuated total reflection (ATR) or diffuse reflection (DRIFT) modes. įourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is one of the most important analytical techniques for the identification of organic and inorganic chemical compounds on the basis of the functional group characterization. Furthermore, the omission of invasive sampling makes the measurements repeatable at any time, thus allowing the potential monitoring of materials conservation state over the years and the overcoming of the limit of poor representativity typical of microdestructive analyses. Introductionįor about ten years, modern heritage science community has been moving toward the development of nondestructive and noninvasive diagnostic methodologies that do not require any removal of small fragments from precious or unique works of art and preferably enable in situ investigations. The aim of this paper is to make available to scientists and conservators a comprehensive infrared reflection spectral database, together with its detailed interpretation, as a tool for the noninvasive identification of proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and resins by means of portable noncontact FTIR spectrometers. Transflection mode spectra have represented a valuable support both to study the distorted reflectance bands and to validate the applicability and usefulness of the KK correction. A novel approach to describe and interpret reflectance bands as well as calculated absorbance after Kramers-Kronig transformation (KKT) is proposed. This study presents mid and near-infrared (7500-375 cm −1) total reflection mode spectra of several natural organic materials used in artworks as binding media, consolidants, adhesives, or protective coatings.

Ftir spectra database free