Differentiation between copal and amber by their structure and thermal behaviour

Abstract

The relationships between the polymerization related to structure and the composition of different types of natural resins were determined. Analyses were carried out by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential thermal analysis–thermogravimetry (DTA-TG) and hot stage microscopy (HSM). Copal specimens were collected from the Mai-Ndombe Lake, Democratic Republic of Congo, and amber pieces that came from Bitterfeld, Germany, and from Kaliningrad, Russia. FTIR spectra of copal show a vibrational band at 1643 cm-1 (C=O stretching) attributed to communic acids, while amber shows a band at 1735 cm-1 associated with ester-group vibrations and a shoulder at about 3340 cm-1, suggesting partial oxidization. DTA shows the main exothermic peak, related to the combustion, at 546–552 °C in amber and at 518 °C in copal. The derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) peaks vary in the different resin types; in amber, they occur at 333–335, 401–404 and 548–555 °C and are related to mass losses of 31, 26 and 39 mass%, respectively; copal peaks are at 394 and 507 °C, with mass losses of 71 and 27 mass%, respectively. In copal, hot stage microscopy (HSM) shows the start of sintering at 131 °C, followed by an expansion produced by the material decomposition and the generation of gases that cannot be released because of the material plastic behaviour. Finally, the increase in pressure produces an explosion that results in a lower viscosity of the liquid, which at this point can no longer support the internal pressure of gases. In amber samples, a smaller decrease in viscosity is observed and the start of sintering occurs at 150 °C with no significant change in their morphology.