Art Institute of Chicago

About: Art Institute of Chicago is a archive organization based out in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy & Painting. The organization has 95 authors who have published 144 publications receiving 2409 citations. The organization is also known as: ARTIC & Art Institute Chicago.

Identification of organic colorants in fibers, paints, and glazes by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Abstract: Organic dyes extracted from plants, insects, and shellfish have been used for millennia in dyeing textiles and manufacturing colorants for painting. The economic push for dyes with high tinting strength, directly related to high extinction coefficients in the visible range, historically led to the selection of substances that could be used at low concentrations. But a desirable property for the colorist is a major problem for the analytical chemist; the identification of dyes in cultural heritage objects is extremely difficult. Techniques routinely used in the identification of inorganic pigments are generally not applicable to dyes: X-ray fluorescence because of the lack of an elemental signature, Raman spectroscopy because of the generally intense luminescence of dyes, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy because of the interference of binders and extenders. Traditionally, the identification of dyes has required relatively large samples (0.5−5 mm in diameter) for analysis by high-performance liqu...

An innovative surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) method for the identification of six historical red lakes and dyestuffs

Abstract: Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used in this work to obtain highly detailed spectra of artists' red lake pigments and colorants. In the past, Raman spectroscopy has been successfully employed to identify many pigments and modern synthetic dyes. Unfortunately, red lake pigments and dyes commonly employed in artistic production from antiquity to the mid-nineteenth century are often extremely fluorescent, making identification with Raman spectroscopy difficult or impossible. This work presents an innovative SERS technique that quenches fluorescence, significantly enhances the weak Raman scattering effect, and requires very little sample material and minimal sample handling. A silver island film (AgIF), approximately 6–8 nm thick, is deposited on the substrate by electron beam (e-beam) deposition. The SERS-active surface is then analyzed with a confocal dispersive Raman microscope, at an excitation wavelength of 632.8 nm. Reference materials including the synthetic dyestuffs alizarin, purpurin, and eosin, high-purity carminic acid, and historic red lake pigments such as madder lake, cochineal, brazilwood, lac lake, and kermes were studied. The proposed method has great potential for the unambiguous identification of red dyes applied in different media on a variety of substrates, as demonstrated by the highly detailed Raman spectra presented here. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ad-hoc surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy methodologies for the detection of artist dyestuffs: thin layer chromatography-surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and in situ on the fiber analysis.

Abstract: Tailored ad-hoc methods must be developed for successful identification of minute amounts of natural dyes on works of art using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). This article details two of these successful approaches using silver film over nanosphere (AgFON) substrates and silica gel coupled with citrate-reduced Ag colloids. The latter substrate functions as the test system for the coupling of thin-layer chromatography and SERS (TLC-SERS), which has been used in the current research to separate and characterize a mixture of several artists' dyes. The poor limit of detection of TLC is overcome by coupling with SERS, and dyes which co-elute to nearly the same spot can be distinguished from each other. In addition, in situ extractionless non-hydrolysis SERS was used to analyze dyed reference fibers, as well as historical textile fibers. Colorants such as alizarin, purpurin, carminic acid, lac dye, crocin, and Cape jasmine were thus successfully identified.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of dyes: from single molecules to the artists’ canvas

Abstract: This perspective presents recent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) studies of dyes, with applications to the fields of single-molecule spectroscopy and art conservation. First we describe the development and outlook of single-molecule SERS (SMSERS). Rather than providing an exhaustive review of the literature, SMSERS experiments that we consider essential for its future development are emphasized. Shifting from single-molecule to ensemble-averaged experiments, we describe recent efforts toward SERS analysis of colorants in precious artworks. Our intention is to illustrate through these examples that the forward development of SERS is dependent upon both fundamental (e.g., SMSERS) and applied (e.g., on-the-specimen SERS of historical art objects) investigations and that the future of SERS is very bright indeed.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: A direct method to identify colorants in various artist media

Abstract: Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been developed as a direct, extractionless, nonhydrolysis tool to detect lake pigments and colorants of various classes used in a variety of artist ma...