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Many artists' media are not volatile enough for gas chromatography or not stable enough to undergo the chemical processes that render them volatile. In these cases, LC/MS-MS combines the analytical power of mass spectrometry with a separation technique that can be used for these compounds.
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Applications
More complex polymers, ethnographic objects, dyes of plant or insect origin, tree resins, and archaeological materials are investigated with LC/MS-MS. HPLC and LC/MS-MS have been used in:
- quantitative analysis of indoor air pollutants in museum environments;
- characterization of protein and carbohydrate binders in paint samples;
- characterization of degradative changes in the molecular weight distribution of synthetic polymers.
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HPLC is used to measure levels of indoor pollutants like formaldehyde or other carbonyl-containing materials. A related application, ion chromatography, is often used to measure indoor concentration of organic acids such as acetic and formic acid. Both of these acids can cause extensive damage to acid-sensitive museum objects. Photo: James Druzik. |
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Related Getty Publications
Further reading
- Grzywacz, C.M. "Identification of proteinaceous binding media in paintings by amino acid anaysis using 9-l chloroformate
derivatization and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography." Journal of Chromatography A 676. (1994): 177-183.
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