FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY (FT-IR) AND X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETRY (XRD) AS METHODS FOR DISCRIMINATING AMBER AND AMBER-LIKE MATERIALS FROM THE ROMANIAN MARKET
Keywords:
Baltic amber, romanite, copal, rosin, modern resins, Romanian gemstone market, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, ageing studyAbstract
Amber and amber-like materials are often found nowadays in Romanian gemstone exhibitions. Fake amber is more and more difficult to detect, because modern manufactured products made of natural resins and/or polymers are so perfect that they can produce the same esthetic effects as transparent and colored amber pieces. Macroscopically, they cannot be separated from amber without a good personal experience or only applying gemological classic tests. Therefore, modern physico-chemical methods, such as Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) are applied to discriminate amber and forgeries.
