Our group recently published a new Open Access research article – Quantitative GC-MS Analysis of Artificially Aged Paints with Variable Pigment and Linseed Oil Ratios, Molecules 2021, 26 (8), 2218.
In this freely accessible publication, seven sets of artificially aged paints prepared from a pigment (chrome oxide green, natural cinnabar, Prussian blue, red ochre, hematite + kaolinite, zinc white, or yellow ochre) and linseed oil were analysed with GC-MS. One of the main aims was to study if the pigment concentration in the paint samples affects the drying of the linseed oil.
The palmitic acid to stearic acid ratio (P/S), azelaic acid to palmitic acid (A/P), and the relative content of dicarboxylic acids (∑D) showed, that besides the type of the pigment, also the concentration of the pigment can influence these values that are commonly used to identify the type of the oil or to characterize how dried is the sample.
The absolute quantification of stearic acid (see figure on the right) showed that the drying of all paint sets (except for zinc white) were influenced by the pigment concentration. Therefore, this is another factor that needs to be taken into account when studying aged oil paints.
