Evaluation of the effect of six different paint cross section preparation methods on the performances of Fourier Transformed Infrared microscopy in attenuated total reflection mode

► The argon ion milled sample provided the best results in terms of spectral quality. ► Spectral quality in CDD sample is locally affected by the superficial morphology. ► Spectral quality decreases with time in mapping analyses on KBr samples. ► Organic embedding media prevent the visualisation of external protective layers. ► Dry polishing may cause the contamination by some abrasive papers and by KBr.