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Study of metallic components of historical organ pipes using synchrotron radiation X-ray microfluorescence imaging and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction

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Abstract

A comparative study of the composition and microstructure of two different brass alloys from reed pipes, one from a Spanish baroque organ and the other from a modern one, was carried out. This study allowed us to determine the procedure followed to produce the brass used to make ancient reed pipes. Moreover the distribution and correlation of lead and other trace elements present into the main component of the brass, the copper and zinc phases, of the historical tongues and shallots were established. This chemical composition was compared with that of a tongue from a twentieth-century organ. The whole study was accomplished using a combination of laboratory and synchrotron radiation techniques. X-ray fluorescence was the technique used to obtain elemental and chemical imaging of the main phases and the trace elements at a sub-micrometer scale.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain (MAT 2007-63234) and Marie Curie Action MEST-CT2004-513915. The authors are very grateful to the company Gerhard Grenzing, S.A organ builders, for providing historical and modern tongues for our research, and to ESRF (ID 18F) for providing beamtime and for their assistance during our experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Science Institute of Seville, Inorganic Chemistry Department, (CSIC-US), Avda Americo Vespucio, 49, 41092, Seville, Spain

    L. K. Herrera, A. Justo & A. Muñoz-Páez

  2. European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, BP 220, 38043, Grenoble Cedex, France

    J. A. Sans & G. Martínez-Criado

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  1. L. K. Herrera
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  2. A. Justo
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  3. A. Muñoz-Páez
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  4. J. A. Sans
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  5. G. Martínez-Criado
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Correspondence to L. K. Herrera.

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Herrera, L.K., Justo, A., Muñoz-Páez, A. et al. Study of metallic components of historical organ pipes using synchrotron radiation X-ray microfluorescence imaging and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. Anal Bioanal Chem 395, 1969–1975 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3075-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3075-3

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