Ion milling: the perfect cross-section of a painted textile

Abstract

Abstract The successful study and conservation of historical objects is greatly enhanced by accurate materials analysis. Here embedded cross-sections from a processional marching banner were viewed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pre and post ion milling The application of ion-milling to the resin embedded cross-sections of the painted textile improved the sample surface resulting in greatly enhanced SEM images by producing clear distinctions between layers. It also enabled clear images which show the areas where ingress of the ground paint layer had seeped into the textile support in some areas and not on others. This perhaps indicates deliberate differences in the preparation layer depending on the type of final painting layer or it could simply be due to a lack of accuracy in its application prior to painting. The analysis of cross-section samples from painted textiles often includes the textile itself making sample preparation more complex due to the possibility of fraying of the textile during sample polishing; the ion-milling technique prevented this from occurring. To enhance findings further analysis on these ion milled cross-section samples by the use of mapping spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman would facilitate material identification of the layers.

Keywords

• Painted textiles
• Cross-sections
• Ion-milling
• SEM-EDX-mapping
• Sample stratigraphy