ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Combination of Optical Coherence Tomography and SANS for the study of cultural heritage

Abstract: The beamtime requested is aimed at deepening the knowledge of an open challenge in painting conservation, named blanching. When stored in a high-humidity environment or exposed to water, paintings coated with a transparent varnish layer undergo whitening. We observed that this damage is reversible if the water contact is limited in time. We aim to investigate the nano-structural changes happening in the polymeric varnish layer during water uptake for both short (reversible blanching) and long (irreversible blanching) water contact. We are developing a unique non-invasive capability to simultaneously monitor structural changes at both nano and micro scales by combining SANS and a bespoke Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). SANS will provide time-resolved spectra on the growth of the nanopores, and OCT will map out the depth profiles of samples, allowing for swelling monitoring. The combined approach will show the correlation between pore changes and film growth, pointing out the time scale at which the two processes take place, clarifying how irreversible damage becomes visible. We build on preliminary work, where we have demonstrated that blanching is observable in SANS, quantifying the water uptake and the pore growth during D2O infiltration, showing structural changes that continue over weeks. In this proposal, we aim, through a series of OCT-SANS measurements, focusing on reversible and irreversible processes, to provide a comprehensive view of varnish blanching.

Public release date: 22 November 2028

Principal Investigator: Mrs Alessia Venturi
Experimenter: Professor Haida Liang
Experimenter: Dr Apostolos Vagias
Experimenter: Professor Lucas Goehring
Experimenter: Professor Susumu Inasawa
Local Contact: Dr Najet Mahmoudi
Experimenter: Dr Masahiko Tanaka
Experimenter: Dr Antonella Scherillo
Experimenter: Dr Sammy Cheung

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520625-1

Parent DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520625

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520625

Part Number: 1

Date of Experiment: 19 November 2025

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Mrs Alessia Venturi et al; (2025): Combination of Optical Coherence Tomography and SANS for the study of cultural heritage, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520625-1

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.