"High-Resolution Solid-State NMR of Cultural Inorganic Materials" in "Modern Magnetic Resonance"

NMR can be successfully applied in the study of cultural inorganic materials. In this chapter case studies illustrating the potential of solid-state NMR in this field are reported. The first case deals with the use of 207Pb solid-state NMR to investigate inorganic pigments and related degradation processes. The second and third cases are focused on the use of 29Si and 27Al solid-state NMR to obtain information on ancient pottery and historic dimension stones. The deconvolution of static 207Pb NMR spectra of lead-based pigments allows to obtain information on the coordination geometry of the lead atom and its reaction pathways occurring during degradation processes. Solid-state NMR applied on ancient pottery allows to study and compare different ancient production technologies. 29Si MAS, 27Al MAS, and 3Q-MAS can be applied, along with other techniques, to characterize very complex materials such as volcanic tuffs, study their degradation processes, and find solutions for their conservation and restoration.