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Electrochemical analysis of natural solid organic dyes and pigments

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Abstract

Square-wave voltammetry of solid naphthoquinone, anthraquinone, and flavone dyes, carmine, cochineal red, indigo, and Prussian blue, was compared to microanalysis (sample consumption <1 mg) of traditional painting pigments and dyes without their preliminary dissolution. Electrochemical analysis was also performed after the samples' hydrolysis simultaneously with thin-layer chromatography. Anthraquinone-based pigments and Prussian blue are reversibly reduced, cochineal red and lac dyes are irreversibly reduced, flavones are mostly reversibly oxidized, dragon's blood is irreversibly oxidized and reduced, and indigo yields both reversible oxidation and reduction. The potential window of these reactions is about 1.4 V wide. This variability permits identification of the kind of pigment or dye, and directly distinguishes, for example, alizarin and purpurin; luteolin and quercetin; or indigo and Prussian blue.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are very grateful to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague for kindly providing the samples of organic pigments and to Hanka Kůrková, a restoration student, for her help with the preparation of the lakes. Financial support by the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic, project number LN00A028, is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 250 68 , Řež, Czech Republic

    T. Grygar & D. Hradil

  2. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Charles University, Hlavova 2030, 128 40 , Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Š. Kučková

  3. Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, U Akademie 4, 170 22 , Prague 7, Czech Republic

    J. Hradilová

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  1. T. Grygar
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  2. Š. Kučková
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  3. D. Hradil
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  4. J. Hradilová
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Correspondence to T. Grygar.

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Grygar, T., Kučková, Š., Hradil, D. et al. Electrochemical analysis of natural solid organic dyes and pigments. J Solid State Electrochem 7, 706–713 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-003-0380-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-003-0380-1

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