New criteria for the characterization of traditional East Asian papers

Abstract

We report a pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) method capable of analyzing traditional East Asian papers. The method proposed is based on rapid and easy single step Py-GC/MS analysis that can be carried out with a minimum amount of matter, in the few microgram range. Three reference papers manufactured from kozo (Broussonetia kazinoki Siebold & Zucc.), mitsumata (Edgeworthia chrysantha Lindl.), and gampi (Wikstroemia sikokiana Franch. & Sav.) with the traditional hand paper making processes were examined. The method allows discrimination between terpenic and steroid compounds, which were revealed as chemical markers of origin of the plant fibers. Each paper investigated was found to have characteristic pyrolysis fingerprints that were unique to the traditional handmade paper, demonstrating the potential for differentiation of these biochemical components of fiber plants on East Asian papers towards identification and conservation of cultural heritage. The investigation on Py-GC/MS was extended to liquid extraction followed by GC/MS analysis to characterize the biochemical components of fiber plants. The main contribution of this study is to provide molecular criteria for discriminating plant species used for traditional East Asian hand papermaking. Py-GC/MS complements efficiently microscope identification especially for adverse cases. A case study of archaeological Chinese paper painting artefacts was thereafter successfully investigated to address informative potential and efficiency of the criteria of identification on ancient and degraded East Asian paperworks.

Characterization and identification of traditional Chinese handmade paper via pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

“…Cellulose is a linear homopolysaccharide composed of β-D-glucopyranoside units linked by (1→4) bonds (Keheyan 2008). The thermal decomposition of cellulose is the result of two competing reactions: a dehydration reaction which yields anhydrocellulose and the depolymerisation of cellulose which yields primarily levoglucosan and minor anhydrosugar components (Avataneo and Sablier 2016).…”

“…Assuming that the paper fibers may still retain the specific biochemical constituents of their raw materials after the papermaking process, this study was conducted. It has been reported that pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) was successfully used for the differentiating East Asian handmade paper (kozo paper, mitsumata paper, and gampi paper) according to the biochemical markers of origin of the plant raw materials, since each paper has characteristic pyrolysis fingerprints (Avataneo and Sablier 2016;Han et al 2016Han et al , 2017. In addition, Py-GC/MS was used to analyze the thermal cracking behaviors of cigarette papers made of wood pulp and hemp pulp (Zhang et al 2017;Sun et al 2008); and to estimate the age of documents through paper analyses (Keheyan 2008;Ortiz-Herrero et al 2018).…”

Characterization of Korean handmade papers collected in a Hanji reference book

“…69 Heullimtteugi Hanji product from cellulose pyrolysis, a characteristic feature of cellulosic material pyrolysis that has been previously elaborated (Fig. 7A) [3,40,48,49].…”

“…Terpenic compounds with the characteristic ions of m/z at 218, 203, 189 was identified and characterized in the pyrolysis of Hanji that are in accord to papermaking fibers from the Moraceae family [40,41,51,52]. It can be seen from the total ion chromatogram (TIC) that these terpenic compounds elute in the plant marker region (defined as region of interest, ROI) at a comparatively high temperature (Fig.…”

“…On-line pyrolysis hyphenated with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) is among the most frequently used techniques for cellulosic material studies due to simple preparation with minimum quantity required [37][38][39]. Its practical application on Japanese and Chinese handmade papers was previously explored as a new approach for East Asian handmade paper characterization [3,40,41].…”