Understanding Soap Formation in Paint Films by 207Pb, 119Sn and 13C Solid-State NMR

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Abstract

The formation of lead carboxylates (lead soaps) has been identified as the cause of deterioration of hundreds of oil paintings. Soaps form when heavy metal-containing pigments, for example lead white and lead-tin yellow, react with saturated fatty acids in the oil medium. Understanding the mechanism of the reactions requires chemical information, which can be obtained with solid-state 207Pb, 119Sn and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Using the chemical-shift tensors determined by solid-state NMR we can gain structural insights on the coordination environment of the lead carboxylates and identify and quantify components in a paint film mixture. We have examined the spectroscopy of lead-containing pigments, lead carboxylates, and model paint films that were subjected to accelerated aging. We have also begun to investigate the dynamics of soap formation by 13C NMR spectroscopy. The NMR methods applied to the model paint systems could also be applied to other lead-containing materials.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS