Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T16:02:47.425Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Analysis of art objects and other delicate samples: Is XRF really nondestructive?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2012

Michael Mantler  and
Jan Klikovits
Michael Mantler*
Affiliation:
Institute of Solid State Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Jan Klikovits
Affiliation:
Institute of Solid State Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
*
a)Electronic mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

XRF is generally considered a nondestructive analytical method in the sense that a specimen is not altered by the analytical procedure. This study is related to paintings and illuminated manuscripts, where the analytes are often inorganic pigments embedded into organic matrices such as fabrics (canvases), paper or parchment, binders, and varnish. We found that a typical measurement cycle with conventional tubes and energy dispersive systems (e.g., 100 s, 100 W tube-power) causes no visible harm. However, 3 kW radiative power for several minutes and more (as often required for wide angle scans as well as for the analysis of light elements or traces in a wavelength dispersive spectrometer) can leave visible traces of permanent yellowing, brittleness, and even mechanical decomposition. In such cases scanning electron microscopy-images indicate permanent alteration of the cellulose fibers and, in paper, of the binder. Employment of modern X-ray optical devices which focus the photons of a wide beam onto a small spot may also leave visible (and invisible) traces of destruction.

Type
Technical Articles
Information
Powder Diffraction , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2004 , pp. 16 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dilley, K. J. (1973). “Loss of tryptophan associated with photo-polymerization and yellowing of proteins exposed to light over 300 nm,” Biochemistry BICHAW 133, 821–826. bcm, BICHAW CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See, for example, “Radiation Curing” in www.basf.de/BASF Group/Businesses and Products/Colorants and Finishing Products/Functional Polymers.Google Scholar