Use of atomic spectrometry for the investigation of ancient manuscripts

The analytical investigation of ancient manuscripts for conservation purpos es has been carried out. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP- MS) was used to determine the elemental composition (Na-23, Ag-107, Ag-109, Pb-206, Pb-207, Pb-208, Bi-209, Mg-24, Al-27, Mn-55, Fe-56, Fe-57, Cu-63, Cu-65, Zn-66, Zn-68) of micro-samples from a real manuscript. Based on this procedure, model paper samples were prepared, which were used to investiga te the possibility of reducing the iron-gall ink corrosion. For this purpos e the efficiency of the solid-liquid extraction of iron by different ligand s from paper was examined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Residual amounts of iron and copper in the paper samples were dete rmined by ICP-MS after microwave digestion (HNO3, 1 + 1).