Applicability of single-shot and double-shot Py-GC/MS for the detection of components in vinyl acetate-based emulsions used in modern-contemporary art

Abstract

This research explores the use of different pyrolysis-based techniques for studying the chemical composition of vinyl acetate (VAc) based emulsions widely used in modern-contemporary art and contributes to the understanding of their composition by the detection of different monomers and additives. For this purpose, six different commercial VAc-based emulsions from the early 21st century were analyzed for the first time by single-shot (SS) and double-shot (DS) pyrolysis – gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The results obtained were compared, and highlight the advantages of DS in comparison to SS for the analysis of VAc-based emulsions. Several different components assigned to plasticizers, surfactants, intermediates, and antioxidant families, were detected, mainly by the thermal desorption step of DS. The information gained by this research enriches the knowledge of the formulation of VAc-based emulsions, by considering for the first time a large variety of them. Moreover, it also points to the importance and the potential of DS Py-GC/MS for investigating these materials, which have been rarely explored with this technique.