title: Applicability of a Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform handheld spectrometer to perform in situ analyses on Cultural Heritage materials.
abstract: This work studies the applicability of a Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform handheld device to perform in situ analyses on Cultural Heritage assets. This portable diffuse reflectance spectrometer has been used to characterise and diagnose the conservation state of (a) building materials of the Guevara Palace (15th century, Segura, Basque Country, Spain) and (b) different 19th century wallpapers manufactured by the Santa Isabel factory (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain) and by the well known Dufour and Leroy manufacturers (Paris, France), all of them belonging to the Torre de los Varona Castle (Villanañe, Basque Country, Spain). In all cases, in situ measurements were carried out and also a few samples were collected and measured in the laboratory by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRIFT) in order to validate the information obtained by the handheld instrument. In the analyses performed in situ, distortions in the diffuse reflectance spectra can be observed due to the presence of specular reflection, showing the inverted bands caused by the Reststrahlen effect, in particular on those IR bands with the highest absorption coefficients. This paper concludes that the results obtained in situ by a diffuse reflectance handheld device are comparable to those obtained with laboratory diffuse reflectance spectroscopy equipment and proposes a few guidelines to acquire good spectra in the field, minimising the influence caused by the specular reflection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. Electronic address: iker.arrizabalaga@ehu.es.
authors.forename: Iker
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arrizabalaga
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gómez-Laserna
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Julene
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aramendia
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Gorka
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arana
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, E-48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Madariaga
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008904:Miniaturization; D012492:Salts / Q000737:chemistry; D012995:Solubility; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D012492:Salts
keywords: Binders; Diffuse reflectance; In situ measurements; Kramer–Kronig; Reststrahlen effect; Soluble salts