FIP Seminar: Micro Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy for subsurface analysis of painted layers

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Mon, 06/26/2017 - 12:00 to 13:00

Presenter

Dr. Claudia Conti, Institute for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Heritage, National Research Council, Milan, Italy

The knowledge of the composition of artworks subsurface is critically important. Direct information on the stratigraphy of painted surfaces is essential for conservation as well as deeper understanding of artist's technique. It is also important to monitor the presence of decay products under the surface or the distribution of conservation treatments inside the substrate. In general, Raman spectroscopy can probe subsurface composition only with (semi-)transparent samples. With paintings the layers are however often highly diffused scattering. Recently, a new Raman method (micro-SORS) for the investigation of materials subsurface has been developed which provides analytical capability for investigating non-invasively the chemical composition of subsurface, micrometer scale-thick diffusely scattering layers at depths more than an order of magnitude larger than those accessible with conventional confocal Raman microscopy. The most significant experiments and applications of micro-SORS will be presented, demonstrating its high potentiality in Cultural Heritage as well as in food and polymer fields.

Claudia Conti is PhD in Materials Engineering at Politecnico of Milan (Italy) and researcher at the Italian National Research Council, Institute for the Conservation and Valorization of Cultural Heritage (ICVBC), the scientific path is characterized by a highly multidisciplinary approach, which covers the areas of chemical sciences applied to the conservation of Cultural Heritage. Raman spectroscopy is one of the research interest and have recently developed a new Raman method (micro-SORS) for the non-invasive subsurface investigation of Cultural Heritage materials, in collaboration with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) as a visiting scientist in 2014. She is an expert in the application of vibrational spectroscopy to the characterization of Cultural Heritage surfaces and their decay. She has published 56 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals of the respective fields and my research contribution has been recognized also by invitations to 10 international conferences