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Laboratory Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) Systems Design and Characteristics for In Situ Cultural Heritage Studies

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Handbook of Cultural Heritage Analysis

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Abstract

Laboratory portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) systems are widely applied for cultural heritage studies. This chapter will deal with some applications such as studies of churches mural paintings, studies of gold and silver historical and archaeological objects, measurement of elemental composition and multilayer thickness by Kα/Kβ ratios of metals and pigments of objects in the cultural heritage, paintings examination, in situ rock art analysis, and studies of archaeological ceramics and obsidians. Laboratory systems are very versatile since their collimation and positioning of the excitation/detection system can be adapted to many different geometries of the samples, which can be a small coin or a statue of human size, a large painting, or a complex metal object composed of many different parts, as well as change the X-ray tube for measurements with different tube anodes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Márcia Rizzo Restaurações, Laboratório de Conservação e Restauração de Bens Culturais Ltda; Immaculate Conception Parish Church of São Paulo City; Leila Regina Teixeira, Conservação e Restauração Ltda; Immaculate Conception Basilica of Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro City; Rosa Scorzelli; Gerárd Poupeau; Claudia I. Parellada; Roberto Cesareo; Arkley M. Bandeira; project funding INCT-CNPq-FNA (464898/2014-5); CNPq; CAPES; and Fundação Araucária-PR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department/CCE, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil

    Carlos Roberto Appoloni

  2. State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil

    Fabio Lopes, Paulo Sergio Parreira, Tiago Dutra Galvão, Fabio Luiz Melquiades, Renato Akio Ikeoka & Eduardo Inocente Jussiani

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  1. Carlos Roberto Appoloni
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  2. Fabio Lopes
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  3. Paulo Sergio Parreira
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  6. Renato Akio Ikeoka
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  7. Eduardo Inocente Jussiani
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Correspondence to Carlos Roberto Appoloni .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

    Sebastiano D'Amico

  2. University of Messina, Messina, Italy

    Valentina Venuti

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Appoloni, C.R. et al. (2022). Laboratory Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) Systems Design and Characteristics for In Situ Cultural Heritage Studies. In: D'Amico, S., Venuti, V. (eds) Handbook of Cultural Heritage Analysis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60016-7_19

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