Foxing spots are reddish-brown, brown, or yellowish spots in irregular shapes that are commonly discovered on paper materials. Effects of such foxing spots on degradation of Chinese papers have rarely been reported. In this study, a 20th century Chinese manuscript with few foxing stains was examined to explore the cause of stain formation. The paper areas with foxing stains were more acidic than those without the stains, while no obvious differences in cellulose crystallinity and iron and copper contents were observed when comparing paper areas with and without foxing spots via X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (ED-XRF), respectively. For further exploration, few fungal hyphae and spores in various sizes were observed using SEM, leading to increased mean roughness of the paper surface for the foxed area. This is further supported by the presence of amide II in the foxed area only, as detected via attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Fungal culture was then carried out to demonstrate that fungi belonging to the genera Alternaria tenuissima and Alternaria solani were present. This research provides an improved understanding of the effects of foxing spots on Chinese archives and informs of further conservation efforts.
Foxing spots are reddish-brown, brown or yellowish in irregular shapes, commonly discovered on paper materials. However, effects of the spots on degradation of Chinese papers have rarely been reported. In this study, a 20 th century Chinese manuscript with few foxing stains was explored. This manuscript is made of 80% chemical softwood pulp and 20% mechanical softwood pulp, on which foxing spots are surrounded by a clear rim of fluorescence illuminated by UV light. Paper areas with the foxing stains are more acidic than the un-foxed. However, no obvious difference of cellulose crystallinity identified by XRD (X-ray diffraction) were found between paper areas with and without foxing spots. Also, characteristic peaks of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of paper areas with and without the spots do not show obvious difference. Fungal identification of the spots demonstrates that fungi belong to the genus Alternaria tenuissima and Alternaria solani . This research extends our understanding of foxing spots on Chinese archives and informs further preventive conservation.
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