Creating a Material Spectral Library for Plaster and Mortar Material Determination

Historic object analysis and the knowledge of composition play an important role in restoration processes. Based on this information, restoration works are conducted. This paper introduces a non-invasive technique of plaster and mortar material decomposition using reflectance spectroscopy. For this purpose, a NIRQuest512-2,5 from Ocean Optics(®)/Ocean Insight(®), is used to create a unique spectral library consisting of various materials. They were carefully selected to include those that were and still are commonly used for a plaster and mortar production. Each material of the spectral library was mapped in detail, verified using scanning electronic microscope (SEM) data, and the results were compared to a previously determined spectral signature. The new spectral library was then tested on 11 unknown plaster and mortar samples and verified using a scanning electronic microscope. It was found that reflectance spectroscopy provides a powerful tool for plaster and mortar material decomposition, although at the moment it cannot fully replace invasive techniques like chemical analyses or other invasive techniques. It provides relevant information that can be used for restoration works.