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X-Ray Mapping and Scatter Diagram Analysis of the Discoloring Products Resulting from the Interaction of Artist's Pigments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 August 2010

Rachel White ,
Paul Thomas ,
Matthew R. Phillips ,
Ken Moran  and
Richard Wuhrer
Rachel White
Affiliation:
Microstructural Analysis Unit, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia
Paul Thomas*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia
Matthew R. Phillips
Affiliation:
Microstructural Analysis Unit, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia
Ken Moran
Affiliation:
Moran Scientific Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 651, Goulburn, New South Wales 2580, Australia
Richard Wuhrer
Affiliation:
Microstructural Analysis Unit, University of Technology Sydney, P.O. Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007, Australia
*
Corresponding author. E-mail: Paul.Thomas@uts.edu.au
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Abstract

The discoloring interaction between the artist's pigments cadmium yellow and the copper-containing malachite, an interaction that is conjectured to cause black spotting in oil paintings of the 19th and early 20th centuries, was examined using X-ray mapping and scatter diagram analysis. The application of these coupled techniques confirmed that copper sulfide phases were produced during discoloration reaction. Scatter diagram analysis indicated that two copper sulfide stoichiometries (CuS and Cu3S2) were present as reaction products where previously only crystalline CuS (covellite) had been identified by X-ray diffraction. The results demonstrate the potential of X-ray mapping coupled with scatter diagram analysis for the identification of both crystalline and X-ray amorphous phases produced by such complex heterogeneous interactions and their applicability to the investigation of interactions of artists' pigments.

Keywords

X-ray mappingscatter diagram analysisartist's pigmentscadmium yellowmalachitediscoloration
Type
Microanalysis Applications
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , October 2010 , pp. 594 - 598
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 2010

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References

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