Issue 9, 2022

Recent advances and applications to cultural heritage using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging

Abstract

Scientific investigation of cultural heritage objects plays a vital role in a responsible modern approach to conservation and archaeology. Recent advances in spectroscopy, such as the development of Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging, have opened up a window of opportunities for characterisation of materials in artefacts and collections from museums. This review summarises some of the recent advances and applications of these ATR-FTIR spectroscopic analytical techniques in the area of cultural heritage studies, including examples of cross-sections of oil paintings, paper, textiles, plastic objects, potteries, glasses and mineral artefacts. Two of the major advantages of ATR mode measurements are minimal or no requirements for sample preparation and its provision for high lateral spatial resolution. In addition to conventional single point detection, two-dimensional mapping and imaging is especially beneficial for chemical visualisation of multi-layered structure cultural objects. This review also explores the implications of these advantages as well as some limitations and provides a brief outlook for the possible future developments in this area.

Graphical abstract: Recent advances and applications to cultural heritage using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging

Article information

Article type
Tutorial Review
Submitted
01 1 2022
Accepted
27 3 2022
First published
30 3 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Analyst, 2022,147, 1777-1797

Recent advances and applications to cultural heritage using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and ATR-FTIR spectroscopic imaging

G. Liu and S. G. Kazarian, Analyst, 2022, 147, 1777 DOI: 10.1039/D2AN00005A

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