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Nowadays, after a sudden development in the last 2–3 years, inkjet decoration of ceramic tiles is the major decoration technique, but scientific studies on characteristics and behaviors of digital inks are quite rare. A set of common vehicles and digital inks for ceramic decoration have been studied by FTIR spectrometry to characterize their organic components and TG-DTA to understand their thermal behavior. This characterization is necessary to evaluate how inks react entering in the firing kilns and how they can influence emissions at chimneys. We were able to identify 6 classes of inks, depending on the nature of their vehicles. First thermal data show that the major part of inks start to evaporate, between 170 and 285 °C, then volatile compounds decompose with exothermic reactions, between 200 and 315 °C, depending on the nature of vehicles and heating rate. Differences in the intensity of phenomena are clearly visible between slow and fast heating rates, suggesting a predominance of combustion over evaporation at fast heating rates. Further studies are necessary to clarify the competition between evaporation and combustion phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two series of printed volumes, respectively, created in Parma and in Vienna at the end of XVIII century, were analysed in order to characterise the palettes used in the hand-coloured miniatures and to determine whether decoration had been carried out simultaneously to, or shortly after, the time of printing. The application of complementary non-invasive analytical techniques allowed to yield a thorough knowledge of the colorants present and to determine that artists used a mixing of ancient, traditional materials such as cinnabar, minium or indigo, and materials of recent introduction in late XVIII century such as gamboge, Prussian blue or blue verditer. There was no evidence of colorants created successively to the age of printing, so that it can be concluded that decoration could have been done at the time of printing. Interesting is the use of metal pigments in the Vienna volumes, either in powder form and in foil form as a basis to obtain iridescence effects, a clue to evaluate the great skillfulness of the artist. Among the colorants identified, particularly relevant is the identification of gamboge, a colorant almost exclusively used among Far Eastern Asian painters according to the literature; this fact suggests that information on the use of pictorial materials can be strongly updated by diagnostic analyses. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An isolated human cranium, dated to the early Eneolithic period, was discovered in 2015 at the top of a vertical shaft in the natural Marcel Loubens gypsum Cave (Bologna area, northern Italy). No other anthropological or archaeological remains were found inside the cave. In other caves of the same area anthropic and funerary use are attested from prehistory to more recent periods. We focused on investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of this individual, since the cranium shows signs of some lesions that appear to be the results of a perimortem manipulation probably carried out to remove soft tissues. Anthropological analyses revealed that the cranium belonged to a young woman. We analysed the taphonomic features and geological context to understand how and why the cranium ended up (accidentally or intentionally) in the cave. The analyses of both the sediments accumulated inside the cranium and the incrustations and pigmentation covering its outer surface suggested that it fell into the cave, drawn by a flow of water and mud, likely from the edges of a doline. The accidental nature of the event is also seemingly confirmed by some post-mortem lesions on the cranium. The comparison with other Eneolithic archaeological sites in northern Italy made it possible to interpret the find as likely being from a funerary or ritual context, in which corpse dismemberment (in particular the displacement of crania) was practiced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egyptian blue (EB) is amongst the first man-made pigments. Archaeological EB samples from Pozzuoli, Herculaneum and Pompei and modern EB mock-ups have been investigated by multianalytical approach: fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy with probe EDS (SEM-EDS) and particles induced X-ray emission (PIXE). To examine the effect of heating temperature and time on the properties of the produced pigment, modern EB samples were synthesized by varying firing temperature (850, 900, 950 °C) and time (τ = 1, 2 and 5 h). Some correlations, in terms of morphologic and colorimetric properties of produced material, related to the manufacturing temperature of firing are drawn. Moreover, the study confirms that there is a great variety of utilized substances linked to materials available for the manufacturer at the moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membranes based on poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), chemically modified with ferrocene functionalities, are proposed as novel coatings for the development of disposable amperometric sensors. They are mass-produced on an inert support through an UV photo-induced polymerization, forming self-standing films that can be transferred on an electrode surface. Thanks to the characteristic of the functionalized methacrylate matrix to rapidly and reversibly swell by incorporation of large amounts of water, the ferrocene moieties are in intimate contact with the electrolytic solution. They can activate effective electrocatalytic processes that can be exploited in the field of amperometric sensing. The performance of the methacrylate coating with respect to the determination of hydroquinone benchmark analyte has been tested both in a static solution and in a flux cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The restoration of one of the most famous masterpieces of the Renaissance, the wall paintings regarding the Assumption of the Virgin Mary painted inside the dome of the Cathedral of Parma by Antonio Allegri called Correggio (1489–1534) between 1526 and 1530, allowed an in-depth chemical-physical study of materials. Non-invasive infrared imaging and spectroscopic techniques (reflectance spectrometry in the visible range and in-situ X-ray fluorescence) and micro-invasive analytical techniques (optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, powder X-ray diffraction, micro-FTIR spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) were chosen in order to provide the higher set of significant data, limiting as much as possible sampling. The joined use of different techniques allowed to deeply explore Correggio's palette, on the use of a fresco and/or a secco technique, to study as well degradation products and the diffused and old restoration materials like consolidants. The study allowed the characterization of a wide range of pigments, the identification of the binding media, mainly egg and animal glue, the restoration materials (acrylic resins, paraffin waxes, various pigments) and the degradation products (calcium sulfate dihydrate and calcium oxalate). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]