Search for a command to run...
Decades of technological advances in instrumental analysis have transformed many techniques from laboratory innovations to customary analytical tools with increasing applicability to the study of cultural heritage objects. X-ray-based techniques are among the most commonly used analytical tools in conservation science. The performances of portable Raman instrumentation have been also compared with those of mobile Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) to monitor the conservation treatment of monument plaster surfaces using various classes of polymeric consolidants and protectives. The chapter describes the application of X-ray fluorescence, fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy, Raman, and FTIR spectroscopies to the analysis of artworks and cultural heritage materials, along with the techniques’ main advantages and drawbacks, through the presentation and critical discussion of series of case studies. Noninvasive and noncontact reflection FTIR spectroscopy has found increasing application to survey plastic heritage collections so that conservation treatments, preservation, storage, display, or use can be strategized.