Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 13;12(1):707. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04597-7.

Multisensor hyperspectral imaging approach for the microchemical analysis of ultramarine blue pigments.

Scientific reports

M González-Cabrera, K Wieland, E Eitenberger, A Bleier, L Brunnbauer, A Limbeck, H Hutter, C Haisch, B Lendl, A Domínguez-Vidal, M J Ayora-Cañada

PMID: 35027601 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-04597-7

Abstract

This work presents a multisensor hyperspectral approach for the characterization of ultramarine blue, a valuable historical pigment, at the microscopic scale combining the information of four analytical techniques at the elemental and molecular levels. The hyperspectral images collected were combined in a single hypercube, where the pixels of the various spectral components are aligned on top of each other. Selected spectral descriptors have been defined to reduce data dimensionality before applying unsupervised chemometric data analysis approaches. Lazurite, responsible for the blue color of the pigment, was detected as the major mineral phase present in synthetic and good quality pigments. Impurities like pyrite were detected in lower quality samples, although the clear identification of other mineral phases with silicate basis was more difficult. There is no correlation between the spatial distribution of the bands arising in the Raman spectra of natural samples in the region 1200-1850 cm

© 2022. The Author(s).

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Publication Types

• Journal Article

Grant support

• BIA2017-87131-R/Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España
• FPU15/03119/Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte