Contacts:
Supervisor(s):
Prof.ssa Ilaria Degano
Title of the PhD project:
Multi-analytical approach for the identification and characterization of historical and modern inks
Abstract of the PhD project:
The presence of inks strongly affects the conservation of manuscripts and drawings, leading to preservation issues related both to fading and paper degradation. Besides contributing to the development of appropriate conservation strategies, the identification of writing inks may also provide important insights for dating and authentication. To date, aanalytical investigation in the heritage science requires new protocols for the analysis of writing inks.
This project aims at developing an analytical strategy that enables the identification of molecular markers of both the dyes/pigments and their aging products, allowing the simultaneous access to the organic and inorganic components of an ink. For this reason, numerous historical and modern ink recipes, containing both natural and synthetic dyes, will be reproduced in the laboratory. The analysis of ink model systems (naturally or artificially aged) with spectroscopic and mass spectrometry techniques will be fundamental to understand the aging and degradation processes of these artistic materials. The study will be mainly performed through High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Diode Array or mass spectrometric detectors (HPLC-DAD-MS) and Raman/SERS spectroscopy. In addition, analytical techniques never or seldom used in the analysis of writing inks will be developed and fine-tuned, as Tip-Enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) and pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS).
The outcomes of this project will provide useful information both for authentication and dating purposes, and for studying the light-fading mechanisms to foster the development of specific conservation conditions for inked manuscripts and artworks. At the same time, the information obtained could be valuable for directing the production of novel inks towards formulations that do not have the same issues as traditional ones.
Publications:
● A. Ferretti, F. Sabatini, I. Degano ∙ “A Model Iron Gall Ink: An In-Depth Study of Ageing Processes Involving Gallic Acid.” ∙ Molecules 2022, 27, 8603
● A. Ferretti, I. Degano, S. Legnaioli, B. Campanella, A. Sainati, M.P. Colombini ∙ “Shedding light on the composition and degradation mechanism of dyes in historical ink’s collection (19th-20th century).” ∙ Dyes and Pigments 2023, 220
● A. Ferretti, F. Sabatini, I. Degano ∙ “Linking historical recipes and ageing mechanisms: the issue of 19th century iron gall inks.” ∙ Journal of Cultural Heritage 2024, 67
Oral communications at conferences:
● A. Ferretti, F. Sabatini, I. Degano ∙ “The issue of iron gall inks: optimisation of a micro-destructive method based on liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry” ∙ CHEMCH- 6th International Congress Chemistry for Cultural Heritage 2022∙ 4 July – 8 July 2022, Ravenna
● A. Ferretti, I. Degano, S. Legnaioli, B. Campanella, M.P. Colombini ∙ “XIX- XX century inks: disclosing the composition and the degradation mechanism of dyes in historical collection” ∙ COLOURS 2022 – Bridging science with art: modern and contemporary artworks ∙ 14 September – 16 September 2022, Èvora
● A. Ferretti, E. Hunt, I. Degano ∙ “Acid dyes-based inks: disclosing the degradation pathways of modern inks through an optimised chromatographic method” ∙ XX Congresso nazionale della divisione di Chimica dell’Ambiente e dei Beni Culturali ∙ 18 September – 1 October 2023, Ischia
● A. Ferretti, E. Hunt, I. Degano ∙ “The shades of red-pink historical inks: investigation of the degradation pathway of dyes in a 19th-20th century collection” ∙ 42th Dyes in History and Archeology ∙ 31 October- 3 November 2023, Copenhagen
● A. Ferretti, F. Sabatini, I. Degano, P. Vandenabeele ∙ “To be or not to be a logwood ink: paving a pattern recognition strategy to investigate 19th-20th century inks” ∙ Archaeometry Connect 2023 ∙ 11 December - 15 December 2023, Ghent
Poster communications at conferences:
● F. Modugno, J. La Nasa, F. Cordella, A. Ferretti, M.P. Colombini, I. Degano ∙ “Selected ion flow tube-mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) in heritage science: non invasive VOCs profiling of natural and synthetic resins” ∙ The plastics heritage congress 2019: History, Limits and Possibilities ∙ Lisbona, 2019
● A. Ferretti, F. Sabatini, I. Degano ∙ “Discovering iron gall ink recipes by liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detector and tandem mass spectrometry” ∙ CFF2022 Chemistry for the Future international conference ∙ 29 June – 1 July 2022, Pisa
● A. Ferretti, J. La Nasa, I. Degano, B. Campanella, S. Legnaioli, S. Penoni, R. Pintus, C. Todaro, F. Modungo ∙ “Discovering the ink murals: multi-analytical approach for the study of “Wall Drawing #736” by Sol LeWitt”∙ 41th Dyes in History and Archeology ∙ 11 October-13 October 2022, Visby
● A. Ferretti, F. Sabatini, I. Degano ∙ “Linking historical recipes and ageing mechanisms: the issue of iron gall inks” ∙ TECHNART 2023 ∙ 7 May – 12 May 2023, Lisbon.
● A. Ferretti, E.Hunt, I. Degano ∙ “Revealing the composition of modern inks: optimisation of a LC-DAD-MS2 method suitable for acid dyes analysis” ∙ CFF2023 Chemistry for the Future international conference ∙ 28 June – 30 June 2023, Pisa
