On the use of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the investigation of the written heritage

Abstract

LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) has been used to investigate the distribution of Fe, Cu and Mn within lines of text written with iron gall ink and in their close vicinity. Those transition metals are the most catalytically active elements which are blamed for accelerating degradation processes leading to the destruction of written heritage, the phenomenon called iron gall ink corrosion. The aim of the performed investigation was to follow a possibility of migration of chosen elements out of the line written with iron gall ink, after their extraction from the paper. Three original samples of mediaeval manuscripts have been analysed before and after treatment by aqueous solution of DTPA (c = 0.005 mol dm⁻³, pH = 8.6). It was important to prove that the possibility of Fe, Cu or Mn migration due to the proposed conservation procedure can be excluded.