Non-invasive identification of plastic materials in museum collections with portable FTIR reflectance spectroscopy: Reference database and practical applications

In this work, portable Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) reflectance spectroscopy was used for the contactless, non-invasive, and in situ analysis of historic plastics. For the first time, this paper presents the complete database of polymer spectra of a set of reference materials widely used in the cultural heritage community. Over 100 samples from the ResinKit (TM) and SamCo (Popart Project) collections, which also include samples such as foams, thin films, dark plastics, and other challenging materials, were analyzed. The extensive database of spectral signatures that was acquired for this work represented the departure point for a field study aiming at the identification of the components of a variety of plastic artifacts in the collections of Architecture and Design and Contemporary Art of the Art Institute di Chicago. Reflectance FTIR spectroscopy was confirmed in situ to be a fast and effective method of identification of historic plastics. In some cases, in addition to the main polymers, it was also possible to identify additives in plastic blends, such as plasticizers and inorganic fillers. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.