title: Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry for the Nondestructive Investigation of Conservation Treatments of Cultural Heritage.
abstract: Today the long-term conservation of cultural heritage is a big challenge: often the artworks were subjected to unknown interventions, which eventually were found to be harmful. The noninvasive investigation of the conservation treatments to which they were subjected to is a crucial step in order to undertake the best conservation strategies. We describe here the preliminary results on a quick and direct method for the nondestructive identification of the various interventions of parchment by means of direct analysis in real time (DART) ionization and high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry and chemometrics. The method has been developed for the noninvasive analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. In this study castor oil and glycerol parchment treatments, prepared on new parchment specimens, were investigated in order to evaluate two different types of operations. The method was able to identify both treatments. In order to investigate the effect of the ion source temperature on the mass spectra, the DART-MS analysis was also carried out at several temperatures. Due to the high sensitivity, simplicity, and no sample preparation requirement, the proposed analytical methodology could help conservators in the challenging analysis of unknown treatments in cultural heritage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0632-5618
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manfredi
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8788-7729
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Robotti
authors.affiliation: ANE Image, Pasadena, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bearman
authors.affiliation: Preservation Research and Testing Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Fenella
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: France
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Elettra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barberis
authors.affiliation: Dead Sea Scrolls Digitization Projects, Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: Pnina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shor
authors.affiliation: Department of Sciences and Technological Innovation, University of Piemonte Orientale, Alessandria, Italy.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marengo