TY - JOUR

T1 - Combining phytate treatment and nanocellulose stabilization for mitigating iron gall ink damage in historic papers

AU - Völkel, Laura

AU - Prohaska, Thomas

AU - Potthast, Antje

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s).

PY - 2020/12/1

Y1 - 2020/12/1

N2 - Because of its acidic and oxidative nature, iron gall ink promotes the endogenous degradation of paper manuscripts. Mechanical damage in areas of concentrated ink application or along mechanically stressed edges or folds results in problems during storage and handling. So far, such strongly degraded areas have usually been stabilized locally with thin Japanese paper and adhesives. A new and innovative material—nanocellulose—is being evaluated as a stabilizer for manuscripts that have been degraded by iron gall ink. The aim of this study is to integrate the nanocellulose application into a multi-stage calcium phytate/calcium hydrogencarbonate treatment to combine deacidification and stabilization, thus avoiding an additional stabilization and drying step. Two different types of fibrillated nanocelluloses were applied on manuscripts damaged by iron gall inks in different treatment steps. The newly formed, interlinked network of nanocellulose and paper was characterised before and after accelerated degradation in closed vials. The effects on the paper cellulose were studied by size exclusion chromatography and light scattering with carbonyl group profiling to follow cellulose hydrolysis and oxidation pathways. In addition, the migration behavior of iron ions was examined by laser ablation coupled with metal analysis (ICP-MS). This paper discusses the applicability and stability of nanocellulose on paper damaged by iron gall ink with regard to its long-term performance. Advantages and limitations are covered in detail. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

AB - Because of its acidic and oxidative nature, iron gall ink promotes the endogenous degradation of paper manuscripts. Mechanical damage in areas of concentrated ink application or along mechanically stressed edges or folds results in problems during storage and handling. So far, such strongly degraded areas have usually been stabilized locally with thin Japanese paper and adhesives. A new and innovative material—nanocellulose—is being evaluated as a stabilizer for manuscripts that have been degraded by iron gall ink. The aim of this study is to integrate the nanocellulose application into a multi-stage calcium phytate/calcium hydrogencarbonate treatment to combine deacidification and stabilization, thus avoiding an additional stabilization and drying step. Two different types of fibrillated nanocelluloses were applied on manuscripts damaged by iron gall inks in different treatment steps. The newly formed, interlinked network of nanocellulose and paper was characterised before and after accelerated degradation in closed vials. The effects on the paper cellulose were studied by size exclusion chromatography and light scattering with carbonyl group profiling to follow cellulose hydrolysis and oxidation pathways. In addition, the migration behavior of iron ions was examined by laser ablation coupled with metal analysis (ICP-MS). This paper discusses the applicability and stability of nanocellulose on paper damaged by iron gall ink with regard to its long-term performance. Advantages and limitations are covered in detail. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

KW - Calcium phytate/calcium hydrogencarbonate treatment

KW - Chemical stabilization

KW - Gel Permeation Chromatography

KW - Iron gall ink

KW - Laser Ablation-ICP-MS

KW - Mechanical stabilization

KW - Nanocellulose/nanofibrillated cellulose

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089846869&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1186/s40494-020-00428-6

DO - 10.1186/s40494-020-00428-6

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85089846869

VL - 8.2020

JO - Heritage Science

JF - Heritage Science

SN - 2050-7445

IS - 1

M1 - 86

ER -