Abstract

Plastics have been increasingly used to create modern and contemporary art and design, and nowadays, museum collections hold numerous objects completely or partially made of plastics. However, the preservation of these materials is still a challenging task in heritage conservation, especially because some plastics show signs of degradation shortly after their production. In addition, different degradation mechanisms can often take place depending on the plastic composition and appropriate environmental and packaging conditions should be adopted. Therefore, methods for in situ and rapid characterization of plastic artifacts’ composition are greatly needed to outline proper conservation strategies. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, such as attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FT-IR), is a well-established method for polymeric material analysis. However, ATR FT-IR requires an intimate contact with the object, which makes its application less appropriate for the in situ investigation of fragile or brittle degraded plastic objects. Mid-FT-IR reflectance spectroscopy may represent a valid alternative as it allows in situ measurements with minimum or even no contact, and IR data can be acquired rapidly. On the other hand, spectral interpretation of reflectance spectra is usually difficult as IR bands may appear distorted with significant changes in band maximum, shape, and relative intensity, depending on the optical properties and surface texture of the material analyzed. Presently, mid-FT-IR reflection devices working in external reflection (ER FT-IR) and diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) modes have been used in cultural heritage research studies. As the collected vibrational information depends on the optical layout of the measuring system, differences between ER FT-IR and DRIFT spectra are thus expected when the same polymer is analyzed. So far, ER FT-IR and DRIFT spectroscopy have been individually explored for the identification of plastic objects, but comparative studies between the application of two reflectance FT-IR modes have not been presented yet. In this work, the use of two portable FT-IR spectrometers equipped with ER FT-IR and DRIFTS modes were compared for plastics identification purposes for the first time. Both references of polymeric materials and historical plastic objects (from a Portuguese private collection) were studied and the differences between ER FT-IR and DRIFT spectra were discussed. The spectra features were examined considering the two different optical geometries and analytes’ properties. This new insight can support a better understanding of both vibrational information acquired and practical aspects in the application of the ER FT-IR and DRIFTS in plastic analysis.

© 2021 The Author(s)

Quantum cascade laser-based reflectance spectroscopy: a robust approach for the classification of plastic type

Anna P. M. Michel, Alexandra E. Morrison, Beckett C. Colson, William A. Pardis, Xavier A. Moya, Charles C. Harb, and Helen K. White
Opt. Express 28(12) 17741-17756 (2020)

New trends in the application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to analytical chemistry

Tomas Hirschfeld
Appl. Opt. 17(9) 1400-1412 (1978)

Multi-spectral infrared spectroscopy for robust plastic identification

Abraham Vázquez-Guardado, Mason Money, Nathaniel McKinney, and Debashis Chanda
Appl. Opt. 54(24) 7396-7405 (2015)

Ultraviolet laser filaments for remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis: applications in cultural heritage monitoring

Stelios Tzortzakis, Demetrios Anglos, and David Gray
Opt. Lett. 31(8) 1139-1141 (2006)

Reflection optical two-dimensional Fourier-transform spectroscopy

Hebin Li, Galan Moody, and Steven T. Cundiff
Opt. Express 21(2) 1687-1692 (2013)