Research on aging and acidification performance of commercial archival paper

Abstract

The aging and acidification behavior of paper archives affect their long-term preservation. Therefore, delaying or preventing aging and acidification has become an important topic in the field of paper archives management. the aging and acidification behavior of commercial archival paper were studied by measuring pH value, electrical conductivity, mechanical properties and whiteness in this work. The results show that the aging and acidification phenomena are obvious after dry-heat aging treatment. The molecular degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and other components results in the decrease of pH value of the system, which decrease with the increase of the treatment temperature and time. The electrical conductivity of the system increases because of the molecular degradation and structural degradation, and with the increase of the treatment temperature and time, the electrical conductivity increases more significantly. After aging treatment, the paper appears etching and increasing microcosmic pores. With the occurrence of molecular degradation and structural degradation, the tensile index and whiteness of the paper decrease, and with the increase of the treatment temperature and time, the tensile index and whiteness decrease more significantly.