[Zurück]

A. Hobro, J. Kuligowski, M. Döll, B. Lendl:
"ATR-FTIR Studies of Antique Furniture";
Poster: IRDG Christmas Meeting 2010, University College London; 16.12.2010.

The ability to identify a particular wood species has its benefits in a number of situations. In conservation or restoration of historic furniture, wooden interiors, monuments or other wooden artefacts prior knowledge of the original wood type can be essential for selecting appropriate materials with which to restore the object. Different species incorporated into wooden artefacts have usually been selected for their unique mechanical, visual, exotic or symbolic properties which give the object more resistant, refined, expensive or even 'holy' characteristics. Alternatively, craftsmen may only have access to particular species in their local area. In both circumstances accurate identification of the wood species can be an important step in identifying historical substitutes, later substitutes or more modern replicas. Thermal treatment is often used to improve the physical characteristics of wood for particular purposes, including the dimensional stability and durability of the wood if it is to be exposed to the elements, to chemicals or biological agents such as bacteria, or to frequent use.

Identification of hot steam treated wood can be difficult as techniques which measure heat treated wood cannot always be easily applied to untreated wood.Using using infrared spectroscopy and PLS-DA, it is possible to differentiate between two walnut wood species and identify the wood components responsible for the species discriminationas well as differentiating between steam treated and non-steam treated samples of each of the two species. Finally, the PLS-DA model is then used to characterise the species and steam treatment of nut wood samples from antique furniture.

Furniture, ATR-FTIR