The Noninvasive Analysis of Paint Mixtures on Canvas Using an EPR MOUSE

Haley Wiskoski,Akul Gupta,Elizabeth A Bogart,Matina Chanthavongsay,Joseph P Hornak

doi:10.3390/heritage3010009

Haley Wiskoski, Akul Gupta + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage3010009

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Journal: Heritage	Publication Date: Mar 12, 2020
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Rochester Institute of Technology

Abstract

Many artists create the variety of colors in their paintings by mixing a small number of primary pigments. Therefore, analytical techniques for studying paintings must be capable of determining the components of mixtures. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is one of many techniques that can achieve this, however it is invasive. With the recent introduction of the EPR mobile universal surface explorer (MOUSE), EPR is no longer invasive. The EPR MOUSE and a least squares regression algorithm were used to noninvasively identify pairwise mixtures of seven different paramagnetic pigments in paint on canvas. This capability will help art conservators, historians, and restorers to study paintings with EPR spectroscopy.

Highlights

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is one of a vast number of spectroscopic analytical techniques [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10] used by art conservators, historians, and restorers to study paintings
Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy is based on the absorption of photons of energy and Larmor frequency ν by matter with unpaired electrons when placed in an external magnetic field
The seven standard spectra recorded with the EPR mobile universal surface explorer (MOUSE) are presented in Figure 3, and the ΓPP

Summary

Introduction

EPR spectroscopy probes magnetic energy levels associated with unpaired electrons in matter, and is useful for investigating paramagnetic, ferro/ferrimagnetic, and free radical containing pigments. The more recent development of an EPR mobile universal surface explorer (MOUSE) [21], has made EPR spectroscopy truly noninvasive for all sample size paintings and made the instrument portable for true in situ investigations. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy is based on the absorption of photons of energy and Larmor frequency ν by matter with unpaired electrons when placed in an external magnetic field. The relationship between ν and B is given by Equation (1) and depicted, where are physical constants known as the Bohr magneton and Planck’s constant, respectively, and the Landé β and h are physical constants known as the Bohr magneton and Planck’s constant, respectively, and g factor is an intrinsic constant of matter containing unpaired electrons. The relationship between ν and B is given by Equation (1) and depicted in Figure 1, where are physical constants known as the Bohr magneton and Planck’s constant, respectively, and the Landé β and h are physical constants known as the Bohr magneton and Planck’s constant, respectively, and g factor is an intrinsic constant of matter containing unpaired electrons.

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