title: Dating silk by capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry.
abstract: A new capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry (CE-MS) technique is introduced for age estimation of silk textiles based on amino acid racemization rates. With an L to D conversion half-life of ~2500 years for silk (B. mori) aspartic acid, the technique is capable of dating silk textiles ranging in age from several decades to a few-thousand-years-old. Analysis required only ~100 μg or less of silk fiber. Except for a 2 h acid hydrolysis at 110 °C, no other sample preparation is required. The CE-MS analysis takes ~20 min, consumes only nanoliters of the amino acid mixture, and provides both amino acid composition profiles and D/L ratios for ~11 amino acids.
authors.affiliation: Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution, 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863, USA. MoiniM@si.edu
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moini
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Klauenberg
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ballard
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary / Q000379:methods*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D047011:Silk / Q000032:analysis*; D013784:Textiles / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D047011:Silk