Glass authentication: Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for origin discrimination of glass bottles

Authentication of glass beads from Cultural Heritage: An interdisciplinary and multi-analytical approach

Analysis of glass-based artworks is important for authentication purposes. In recent years, there have been rapid advancements and improvements in the characterization of glass objects using different analytical approaches. The present study presents an interdisciplinary and multi-analytical authentication approach that provides useful tools and markers to unmask possible imitations, counterfeiting, and forgeries in Cultural Heritage glass beads by comparing the composition of historical and modern glass beads. The approach includes the use of binocular magnifying glass, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS), UV-Vis spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) techniques. Resulting data indicate that antimony, when detected, is only present in historical beads, while boron, zinc, and/or molybdenum are only detected as possible components in modern beads. As marker chromophores for historical beads, lead antimoniate or iron are responsible for yellow, copper for red, and iron and/or copper for green colors. Modern beads coloration was attributed to the presence of cadmium sulfoselenide microparticles for yellow to red colors and chromium for green colors. Opacity in historical beads was generated by dispersed tin oxide or calcium antimoniate microcrystals, while in modern beads the opacity is related to ZrO2 microcrystals and/or fluorine ions. In this study, LIBS has been validated and proven feasible for in situ exploring analytical parameters that can be useful for authentication purposes of historical glass objects, regardless of their size, provenance, and chronology.

Geographical discrimination of dried chili peppers using femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (fsLA-ICP-MS)

This study presents a method for discriminating the geographical origin of dried chili peppers using femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (fsLA-ICP-MS) and multivariate analysis, such as orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), heatmap analysis, and canonical discriminant analysis (CDA). Herein, 102 samples were analyzed for the content of 33 elements using optimized conditions of 200 Hz (repetition rate), 50 μm (spot size), and 90% (energy). Significant differences in count per second (cps) values of the elements were observed between domestic and imported peppers, with variations of up to 5.66 times (¹³³Cs). The OPLS-DA model accuracy achieved an R² of 0.811 and a Q² of 0.733 for distinguishing dried chili peppers of different geographical origins. The variable importance in projection (VIP) and s-plot identified elements 10 and 3 as key to the OPLS-DA model, and in the heatmap, six elements were estimated to be significant in discriminating between domestic and imported samples. Furthermore, CDA showed a high accuracy of 99.02%. This method can ensure food safety for consumers, and accurately determine the geographic origin of agricultural products.

Influence of Environmental Parameters and Fiber Orientation on Dissolution Kinetics of Glass Fibers in Polymer Composites

Glass fibers slowly dissolve and age when exposed to water molecules. This phenomenon also occurs when glass fibers are inside fiber-reinforced composites protected by the matrix. This environmental aging results in the deterioration of the mechanical properties of the composite. In structural applications, GFRPs are continuously exposed to water environments for decades (typically, the design lifetime is around 25 years or even more). During their lifetime, these materials are affected by various temperatures, pH (acidity) levels, mechanical loads, and the synergy of these factors. The rate of the degradation process depends on the nature of the glass, sizing, fiber orientation, and environmental factors such as acidity, temperature, and mechanical stress. In this work, the degradation of typical industrial-grade R-glass fibers inside an epoxy fiber-reinforced composite was studied experimentally and computationally. A Dissolving Cylinder Zero-Order Kinetic (DCZOK) model was applied and could describe the long-term dissolution of glass composites, considering the influence of fiber orientation (hoop vs. transverse), pH (1.7, 4.0, 5.7, 7.0, and 10.0), and temperature (20, 40, 60, and 80 °C). The limitations of the DCZOK model and the effects of sizing protection, the accumulation of degradation products inside the composite, and water availability were investigated. Dissolution was experimentally measured using ICP-MS. As in the case of the fibers, for GFRPs, the temperature showed an Arrhenius-type influence on the kinetics, increasing the rate of dissolution exponentially with increasing temperature. Similar to fibers, GFRPs showed a hyperbolic dependence on pH. The model was able to capture all of these effects, and the limitations were addressed. The significance of the study is the contribution to a better understanding of mass loss and dissolution modeling in GFRPs, which is linked to the deterioration of the mechanical properties of GFRPs. This link should be further investigated experimentally and computationally.