Current Analytical Chemistry - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2010

The world is multivariate [1]. In order to be significant, data coming from diagnostic work on Environment and Cultural Heritage as well must be subjected to a multivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis and chemometrics [2] are integrated approaches necessary [3] to the knowledge of the cultural item history, its constructive techniques, degradation, dating and origin. The second biennial CMA4CH Meeting occurred on 1-4 J Read More

A quantitative structure - activity relationship (QSAR) study has been applied to a data set of 33 diphenyl ether herbicide with their inhibition data on protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) enzyme. Diphenyl ethers (DPEs) are a class of herbicides that strongly and competitively inhibit the protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) enzyme. PPO is the last common enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway to heme and chlorophyll. Two li Read More

One of the main issues still not resolved is to what extent casters were capable to change the composition of the bronze objects in order to meet the demands of the “market”. To face this problem it is necessary to study a large number of items produced by a single foundry with modern analytical techniques. The discovery of a Dolium at the end of 1800, buried near a furnace containing more than 14,000 pieces of bronz Read More

Chemical mass balance modeling (CMB) was applied to determine the PM10 sources and their contributions. PM10 samples were collected in Lecce (40.338N, 18.108E, a town of South Italy), during two monitoring campaigns performed on July 2005 and February 2006. Nine source profiles and average mass concentration of the following chemical parameters: elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), chlorine (Cl-), nitrate (N Read More

In this paper we have applied a chemometric treatment for investigating and comparing the element composition in potable water samples collected in two Italian urban areas, Rome and Florence, and analyzed by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis. The spectrum of drinkable tap Roman water shows very low limits of potentially toxic elements (Sb, Hg, Cr, Ni, etc.); in particular, they are present at levels below the v Read More

The presence of large quantities of toxic heavy metals (i.e. cobalt, chromium, lead, cadmium, zinc, etc.) in the environment may be a serious threat to humans. Hence, the development of novel methods able to eliminate these toxic contaminants from wastewater in efficient and economically viable ways is highly desirable. In this work we assayed the ability of two polymers, polyethylenimine (PEI) and its carboxyl Read More

Lower Cretaceous and Triassic-Hettangian clays from the Algarve Basin (South Portugal) were deposited in distinct environments during basin subsidence due to Pangea break up. The mineralogy, geochemistry and granulometry of 45 samples of both clay groups were studied, using X-ray diffraction, instrumental neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence and laser diffractometry by attenuation of X-rays. Multivariate st Read More

In Romania and especially in Transylvania the process of creating icons implied the use of different supports, mainly wood and glass. Samples have been collected from various areas of these religious artefacts. The aim of this research is to apply a combination of FTIR spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry techniques in order to identify and characterize the composition of the pigments, binders and varnishes used by Transylva Read More

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) can be successfully used for cultural heritage applications, like pigment and stone identification or archaeological metal characterisation. In this work we focus on the study of wall paintings, working on a reference database of 30 commercial pigments traditionally used in murals and prepared with fresco, tempera (egg yolk, casein, animal glue) and oil techniques following anci Read More

In this study, source regions of atmospheric sulfate and nitrate in rural areas at the Black Sea and the Mediterranean coasts of Turkey are compared. Stations on the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea are located at Amasra and Antalya regions, respectively. Source regions of SO4 2- and NO3 - are determined by using potential source contribution function (PSCF). Statistical significance of source regions assigned by P Read More

Pattern recognition methods, i.e. the methods concentrating on the possibility of assigning an object to a class based on the result of a set of measurements are ubiquitous in chemometrics. In this paper, the main chemometric classification methods are discussed in terms of their nature, behavior, advantages and drawbacks. Both parametric and non parametric or discriminant and modeling techniques are illustrated toge Read More

Small quantities of Roman mortars and stuccos from the Theatre of Marcellus and Porticus of Octavia were subjected to different instrumental techniques - thermogravimetric analysis (TG, DTG), Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The instrumental characterisation and chemometries allowed the stucco samples to be easily distinguished from the mortar. In practice, usi Read More

Spectrometric multicomponent analysis is a subject of great practical importance in the environmental, clinical, pharmaceutical and cultural heritage areas. Partial Least Squares (PLS) modeling based on SIMPLS algorithm was applied for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) with ammonium purpurate (murexide) as the complexing agent. An analytical wavelengths of (4 Read More

New equipments and procedures to monitor in situ soluble salts content in stone materials were set up. They base on the extraction, by flowing ultrapure water, of soluble salts from stone surfaces and on the continuous registration of the real-time response of a conductometric probe; on the final collected solution, conductivity measure and analysis of anions by ionic chromatography can be performed in laboratory. A corr Read More

Due to its high intrinsic efficiency, heterogeneous catalysis is widely used in waste water treatments employing mixed catalysts. However, in this kind of catalysis it is extremely difficult to separate the suspended catalyst from the solution at the end of the procedure due to the small dimension of the particles. In environmental applications, the most used catalyst is titanium dioxide because of its great catalytic efficiency. The pr Read More

Identification of artworks is mainly based on a few characteristics which can be observed using non-invasive tools (sight, touch, simple instruments), the investigated properties being geometry, weight, colours, texture, etc. Nowadays, technology allows reproducing all these characteristics to such an extent that even expert conservators can be deceived: in particular at the present time even the geometry of Read More