The Role of TOF-SIMS in the Characterisation of Inorganic and Organic Components in Paint Samples

Abstract

The conservation of cultural heritage requires a profound knowledge of the materials and technologies used for its production. In particular, the analysis of the surface of an object of art is of primary importance, considering that it constitutes a basic tool for the understanding of the history of the object and of its ageing processes. In fact, the surface is not only the visible part of the artwork, but it also represents the interface between the object and the environment, where the interactions with physical, biological and chemical agents occur. In order to provide chemical information regarding the surface of the artwork under study and to understand its interactions with the environment, the employment of ToF-SIMS (Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) appears of fundamental importance. ToF-SIMS provides elemental data and a certain degree of molecular information, while also allowing depth profiling, mapping or imaging to be carried out (Spoto 2000). As a result, this procedure was successfully applied for the characterisation of inorganic and organic components of a wide range of cultural heritage objects (Keune and Boon 2004; Adriaens and Dowsett 2006; Mazel et al. 2006).