Applying FTIR spectroscopy in the study of archeometric sensor glasses E. Greiner-Wronowa a, * , C. Paluszkiewicz a,b , L. Stoch a a Department of Materials Science, University of Mining and Metallurgy, Al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krako ´w, Poland b Regional Laboratory, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 3, 30-060 Krako ´w, Poland Received 9 December 1998; accepted 13 January 1999 Abstract Environment pollution causes degradation of many cultural monuments, including those made of glass. This work deals with the analysis of created glass surface changes, as typical of the corrosion process. To maintain the cultural heritage, some special experiments have been done on the so called “sensor glasses”. This method gives an opportunity for examining the induced corrosion behavior of glasses, which were based on the chemical analysis of the original old ones. These glasses were kept in different media, temperature and periods of time. Measurements have been carried out on the samples belonging to excavated, restored original old glasses and sensors. To investigate created changes, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy spectroscopy has been applied. Comparison of the obtained results allows us to learn more about structural changes and observe the chemistry of this corrosion phenomenon both under natural surroundings and by induced parameters.  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Sensor glasses; Glass corrosion 1. Introduction From a technical point of view glass seems to be very resistant and stable, especially in comparison with some other materials which have very weak chemical and mechanical stability. This paper deals with the problem of maintaining cultural heritage by carrying out special experiments on glass. To solve this in the best way, tests have been done on the so called “sensor glasses” [1]. To find developed changes due to the passing of time under various severe conditions, analytical materials a few centuries old and a new one (sensor glass) altered in artificial parameters have been chosen. The interaction between glass and environment is many sided and the results of such interaction depend on different parameters. The main subject was the evaluation of glass corro- sivity by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectro- scopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDXA) methods. The most important feature of the FTIR method is the very small amount of sample required and the short time of experiment. The amount of sample is very limited in all cases of excavated and other historical glasses. The sensor glass method has been found to get more experimental data from unlimited tested material [2,3]. Journal of Molecular Structure 511–512 (1999) 199–204 0022-2860/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0022-2860(99)00160-X * Corresponding author. Tel.: + 48-12-173419; fax: + 48-12- 331593. www.elsevier.nl/locate/molstruc