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Neutron radiography for the study of water uptake in painting canvases and preparation layers

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Abstract

Easel paintings on canvas are subjected to alteration mechanisms triggered or accelerated by moisture. For the study of the spatial distribution and kinetics of such interactions, a moisture exposure chamber was designed and built to perform neutron radiography experiments. Multilayered sized and primed canvas samples were prepared for time-resolved experiments in the ICON cold neutron beamline. The first results show that the set-up gives a good contrast and sufficient resolution to visualise the water uptake in the layers of canvas, size and priming. The results allow, for the first time, real-time visualisation of the interaction of water vapour with such layered systems. This offers important new opportunities for relevant, spatially and time-resolved material behaviour studies and opens the way towards numerical modelling of the process. These first results show that cellulose fibres and glue sizing have a much stronger water uptake than the chalk–glue ground. Additionally, it shows that the uptake rate is not uniform throughout the thickness of the sized canvas. With prolonged moisture exposure, a higher amount of water is accumulating at the lower edge of the canvas weave suggesting a decrease in permeability in the sized canvas with increased water content.

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Acknowledgments

Technical staff at AMOLF (Amsterdam) both in the Mechanical and in the Electronic Engineering Department are thanked for the production of the prototype reaction chamber system. The development was financially supported by FOM program 49 made possible by support by FOM and NWO. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions and advice of Peter Vontobel, Karoline Beltinger, Kevin Mader, Leslie Carlyle, Eleanor Cato, Henk Huinink, Karin Wyss, Danièle Gros, Markus Küffner, Margaux Genton and Philipp Hitz. The Swiss National Science Foundation and Werner Abegg-Fonds are acknowledged for the financial support of this research.

Author contributions

Jaap J. Boon is responsible for the design of the perfusion chamber, the experimental results at ICON beamline and the qualitative data processing. Roel Hendrickx is responsible for the data normalisation and quantitative data processing.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA), Zollikerstrasse 32, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland

      J. J. Boon, R. Hendrickx & E. S. B. Ferreira

    2. FOM Institute AMOLF, Science Park 104, 1098 XG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

      J. J. Boon, G. Eijkel & I. Cerjak

    3. Neutron Imaging and Activation Group, Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland

      A. Kaestner

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    1. J. J. Boon
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    6. E. S. B. Ferreira
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to E. S. B. Ferreira.

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    J. J. Boon and R. Hendrickx are the co-first authors.

    J. J. Boon and R. Hendrickx have contributed equally to the content of this paper.

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    Boon, J.J., Hendrickx, R., Eijkel, G. et al. Neutron radiography for the study of water uptake in painting canvases and preparation layers. Appl. Phys. A 121, 837–847 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-015-9381-z

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