Characterization of commercial synthetic resins by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: application to modern art and conservation.

To characterize a set of synthetic resins, a methodology by pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) has been developed. The studied reference materials were commercial versions of a wide range of synthetic resins. For each polymer, the pyrolytic and chromatographic conditions were optimized to adequately resolve the fragment mixture in a short time.