Assessing Fire-Damage in Historical Papers and Alleviating Damage with Soft Cellulose Nanofibers
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Authors
Organisational units
External Organisational units
- Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek
- Aalto University
- Technische Universität Graz
- Universität Wien
- BOKU
Abstract
The conservation of historical paper objects with high cultural value is an important societal task. Papers that have been severely damaged by fire, heat, and extinguishing water, are a particularly challenging case, because of the complexity and severity of damage patterns. In-depth analysis of fire-damaged papers, by means of examples from the catastrophic fire in a 17th-century German library, shows the changes, which proceeded from the margin to the center, to go beyond surface charring and formation of hydrophobic carbon-rich layers. The charred paper exhibits structural changes in the nano- and micro-range, with increased porosity and water sorption. In less charred areas, cellulose is affected by both chain cleavage and cross-linking. Based on these results and conclusions with regard to adhesion of auxiliaries, a stabilization method is developed, which coats the damaged paper with a thin layer of cellulose nanofibers. It enables the reliable preservation of the paper and—most importantly—retrieval of the contained historical information: the nanofibers form a flexible, transparent film on the surface and adhere strongly to the damaged matrix, greatly reducing its fragility, giving it stability, and enabling digitization and further handling.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 2105420 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Small |
Volume | 18.2022 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 4 Feb 2022 |