Results
Title

Atmospheric pressure MALDI for the noninvasive characterization of carbonaceous ink from Renaissance documents.

Authors

Grasso, Giuseppe; Calcagno, Marzia; Rapisarda, Alessandro; D'Agata, Roberta; Spoto, Giuseppe

Abstract

The analytical methods that are usually applied to determine the compositions of inks from ancient manuscripts usually focus on inorganic components, as in the case of iron gall ink. In this work, we describe the use of atmospheric pressure/matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (AP/MALDI-MS) as a spatially resolved analytical technique for the study of the organic carbonaceous components of inks used in handwritten parts of ancient books for the first time. Large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (L-PAH) were identified in situ in the ink of XVII century handwritten documents. We prove that it is possible to apply MALDI-MS as a suitable microdestructive diagnostic tool for analyzing samples in air at atmospheric pressure, thus simplifying investigations of the organic components of artistic and archaeological objects. The interpretation of the experimental MS results was supported by independent Raman spectroscopic investigations.

Subjects

ATMOSPHERIC pressure; MATRIX-assisted laser desorption-ionization; POLYCYCLIC aromatic hydrocarbons; RAMAN spectroscopy; CARBON compounds

Publication

Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2017, Vol 409, Issue 16, p3943

ISSN

1618-2642

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1007/s00216-017-0341-7