FTIR study of ageing of fast drying oil colour (FDOC) alkyd paint replicas

• Ageing of alkyd resin Winsor & Newton, Fast drying oil colour studied by ATR-FTIR.
• The increase of the absorbance at 1635 cm−1 was selected as a parameter to follow the ageing process.
• No extractive procedure, no destructive technique.
• The carbonate of the filler and the carbonyl group of the esters react under acetic acid atmosphere.
• A sample from a hyper-realistic artwork of Patrizia Zara was investigated to evaluate its natural ageing.

We propose ATR-FTIR spectroscopy for the characterization of the spectral changes in alkyd resin from the Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour range (Winsor & Newton), occurring over 550 days (∼18 months) of natural ageing and over six months of artificial ageing under an acetic acid atmosphere. Acetic acid is one of the atmospheric pollutants found inside museums in concentrations that can have a significant effect on the works exhibited. During natural ageing we observed an increase and broadening of the OH group band around 3300 cm−1 and an increase in bands in the region 1730–1680 cm−1 due to carbonyl stretching. We found a broad band around 1635 cm−1 likely due to CO stretching vibrations of β dichetons. These spectral changes are the result of autooxidation reactions during natural ageing and crosslinking, which then form f alcohols and carbonyl species. The increase in absorbance at 1635 cm−1 was selected as a parameter to monitor the ageing process of paintings prepared with FDOC, without the need for any extractive procedure. FTIR spectra of paint replicas kept under an acetic acid atmosphere indicated the chemical groups involved in the reaction with acid, thus suggesting which spectral FTIR regions could be investigated in order to follow any degradation in real paintings. A red paint sample from a hyper-realistic artwork (“Racconta storie”, 2003) by the Italian painter Patrizia Zara was investigated by FTIR in order to evaluate the effects of 10 years natural ageing on alkyd colours. The results obtained suggested that after the end of chemical drying (autooxidation), alkyd colours are very stable.

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