Non-destructive Characterisation of Inks by Spectroscopy and Surface Analyses

Abstract

From the Middle Age to the XIX century, different types of inks exist in Europe with a shade from black to brown. Black inks are usually linked to iron gall inks made from metal salt and vegetable tannins. Knowledge the exact composition of the ink without deterioration of the document is essential to provide information on geographical and temporal origins. Different non-destructive methods are studied to authenticate documents, to analyse inks and to establish their identity. In this paper, we propose to combine different methods to characterization various ink properties: Fourier Transform InfraRed and Raman spectroscopy for chemical composition, with Atomic Force Microscopy and numerical microscopy for surface morphology. These non-destructive analyses were applied on ink samples made with ancient recipes with and without Alum and on Ancient document.