Characterisation of 19th and 20th century Chinese paper

Brown, Natalie; Lichtblau, Dirk; Fearn, Tom; Strlič, Matija

doi:10.1186/s40494-017-0158-x

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…As mentioned in the Introduction, it has long been the belief of Chinese artists and curators that extra-pure Xuan paper is a particularly durable type of paper (Tsai and Van der Reyden 1997;Tang and Smith 2013;Wu et al 2016). While mechanical properties could be used to explore this claim, their measurements are often associated with significant uncertainties (Yeh and Munn 2005;Lichtblau et al 2008;Brown et al 2017), therefore, measurements of DP were used instead, as is customary in degradation experiments (Zou et al 1996a;Strlič and Kolar 2005;Liu et al 2017;Coppola et al 2018).…”

Section: Photo Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation and durability of contemporary unsized Xuan paper

et al. 2020

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In China, Xuan paper has been the paper of choice as artwork support and for conservation, for several centuries. However, little is known about its material properties, especially given the many grades of sized and unsized Xuan paper. In addition, there is a lack of information on its degradation. In this research, a selection of contemporary unsized Xuan papers was investigated, representing diverse raw materials. Seven out of twelve contemporary unsized Xuan papers were determined to be approximately neutral and contain > 2% alkaline reserve, indicating good durability. Viscometry was used to determine the degree of polymerisation (DP) as none of the samples gave significant reactions to the phloroglucinol spot test. The average DP of ten contemporary unsized Xuan papers is ~ 1700, excluding two papers that have presumably been sun-bleached, and that exhibit significantly lower DP. Using X-ray fluorescence, it can be demonstrated that Ca and Si are the dominant elements and interestingly, Ca content is directly correlated with ash content and with alkaline reserve. Accelerated degradation was performed at two sets of environmental conditions, i.e. 90 °C, 30% RH and 60 °C, 70% RH, and the established degradation rates agreed with the Collections Demography model of paper degradation meaning that degradation of Xuan papers proceeds in the same way as other types of paper. This research gives fundamental insights into contemporary unsized Xuan papers, which exhibit good stability during accelerated degradation despite the low starting DP in the context of the samples used in this study. Our findings may inform methods of Xuan paper production, selection of Xuan paper for conservation purposes, as well as preventive conservation of Xuan paper-based artefacts.

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Section: Photo Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation and durability of contemporary unsized Xuan paper

et al. 2020

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“…The high lignin content in groundwood pulps makes such papers insoluble in the most common nonderivatizing cellulose solvents. For the native lignin-containing papers for which viscometry is not suitable due to insolubility [ 3 , 6 , 7 ], i.e., actually for most real archival objects, SEC becomes the only method of choice [ 1 , 4 , 8 ]; unfortunately, it is not broadly available. SEC of pure cellulose can be carried out after dissolution in suitable solvents, LiCl-DMAC being the most common [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of Cellulose Degree of Polymerization in Historical Papers with High Lignin Content

2021

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Determination of cellulose degree of polymerization (DP) is one of the most commonly used methods in paper degradation studies, performed either by a standardized method using viscometry (as average degree of polymerization (DPv)) or size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) (as weight average molecular mass (Mw)). Due to the insolubility of papers with high lignin content in cupriethylenediamine (CED), such as groundwood papers, viscometric determination is not possible; therefore, pretreatment is required to allow subsequent dissolution of the papers. In this study, the pretreatment of historical papers containing groundwood with sodium chlorite in acetic acid was investigated, which enables dissolution of the paper samples in CED and determination of the cellulose average degree of polymerization by viscometry (DPv). Kappa number was determined to estimate the lignin content in the papers. The suitability of SEC UV-VIS analysis for determination of Mw in papers with high lignin content had been verified before it was used as a comparative method for viscometry. Using SEC, changes in the weight average molecular mass (Mw) of cellulose tricarbanilate (CTC) derivative during delignification were evaluated. The results indicate that no significant depolymerization occurred in the selected samples under the studied delignification conditions, which was additionally confirmed with determination of monosaccharides by ion chromatography. The results of the Mw determinations by SEC and DPv by viscometry are in good correlation, justifying the use of viscometry after chlorite/acetic acid pretreatment to determine the cellulose average degree of polymerization in historical papers with high lignin content.

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“…Material characterization can provide useful information on paper composition and conservation state [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Investigation on traditional East Asian handmade papers employed a variety of material characterisation methods such as physical property measurements [22,23,30], microscopy observation [31][32][33] and chemical composition analysis [34][35][36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Korean handmade papers collected in a Hanji reference book

et al. 2021

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Korean hand papermaking is a renowned cultural tradition in the Korean peninsula. It is still practiced while scientific analysis of paper itself from a large data set is rare. In this study, a set of more than three hundred Korean handmade papers, collected in a reference collection book Hanji: Korean handmade paper, were chemically investigated, and their property data such as colour, pH, grammage, thickness, tensile strength, folding endurance were statistically analysed in order to determine general features for Korean papers. The influence of different paper sheet formation methods (Heullimtteugi vs Gadumtteugi) were revealed by multivariate data analysis and the chemical profiles of raw materials were studied by pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). The Korean handmade paper samples display colour gamut in the colour space L* (69.9–95.9), a* [(−3)-3], b* (0–20), most have neutral/alkaline pH values. Paper density, fiber orientation and physical properties are influenced by the sheet formation techniques. For instance, Gadumtteugi tends to produce papers with strong fiber orientation while Heullimtteugi produces papers with more evenly distribution of fibers. In addition, Py-GC/MS analysis results show that paper mulberry fibers contain less intensity lignin monomers and more terpenic compounds in comparison with gampi and mitsumata fibers. This study provides paper analysis from large sample set, statistics reveal that the material preparing and making craft determined the paper structure which reflected in their physical properties. These properties influenced paper performance and applications in art creations as well as relics conservation and restoration. The characterized paper sample database could be used for handmade paper studies in East Asian region. Consequently, this study contributes to a better understanding of contemporary Hanji properties as well as improves knowledge on handmade papers from the Korean peninsula.

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Characterisation of 19th and 20th century Chinese paper

Cited by 18 publications

References 31 publications

Characterisation and durability of contemporary unsized Xuan paper

Characterisation and durability of contemporary unsized Xuan paper

Determination of Cellulose Degree of Polymerization in Historical Papers with High Lignin Content

Characterization of Korean handmade papers collected in a Hanji reference book

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