Shine a light on papyrus: monitoring the aging process

Abstract

The aging behavior of ancient papyri is not entirely understood, although such understanding is crucial for tailored conservation concepts to preserve these precious historical documents for the millennia to come. In a study on accelerated aging, the effect of light on papyrus sheets was studied, and the consequences were monitored by a combination of non-invasive and invasive techniques. Papyrus sheets were aged for two months at 90 °C and 50% relative humidity, with and without the influence of light. Changes at the optical, mechanical, and molecular levels were monitored using CIELAB color measurements, tensile tests, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and size exclusion chromatography—multi angle light scattering (SEC-MALS). Light exposure has severe consequences for the optical and mechanical properties of papyri, reflected by a strong decrease in cellulose chain length and tensile strength. SEC-MALS proved to be the best method to assess the conservation status of papyri due to its clear results and low sample demand. This publication seeks to highlight the effects of light-induced degradation of papyri and to facilitate an understanding of the underlying aging mechanisms, to support in future conservation measures. Graphical Abstract

Interpol questioned documents review 2019–2022

“…including any other technology used to prepare the document. The following 64 articles [ [548] , [549] , [550] , [551] , [552] , [553] , [554] , [555] , [556] , [557] , [558] , [559] , [560] , [561] , [562] , [563] , [564] , [565] , [566] , [567] , [568] , [569] , [570] , [571] , [572] , [573] , [574] , [575] , [576] , [577] , [578] , [579] , [580] ] [ [581] , [582] , [583] , [584] , [585] , [586] , [587] , [588] , [589] , [590] , [591] , [592] , [593] , [594] , [595] , [596] , [597] , [598] , [599] , [600] , [601] , [602] , [603] , [604] , [605] , [606] , [607] , [608] , [609] , [610] , [611] ], combined with 17 presentations [...…”

“…The publication by Bausch et al sought to highlight the effects of light-induced degradation of papyri and to facilitate an understanding of the underlying aging mechanisms. Although this accelerated aging study supports future conservation measures, its application to forensic science is equally valuable [ 597 ]. Another study [ 598 ] explored the non-destructive application of ATR-FTIR combined with chemometrics to discriminate ancient papers.…”

Archival performance of paper as affected by chemical components: A Review

“…Further evidence that lignin does not necessarily contribute to rapid breakdown of paper-like items is apparent from the fact that papyrus specimens, which contain lignin, have lasted for more than 3000 years (Lojewska et al 2017). Natural papyrus is known to contain about 12 to 15% lignin (Bausch et al 2022b). However, these authors suggest that bioresources.com .…”

Cost-effective equipment for surface pre-treatment for cleaning and excitation of substrates in semiconductor technology

“…This is one of the reasons why laser cleaning is an established and widely used cleaning method. The applications of this versatile process ranges from surface cleaning and modification in the semiconductor industry [22][23][24][25], through the removal of entire layers [21,26] to the restoration of historical works of art [26,34]. Another big advantage of laser cleaning is the possibility to combine several cleaning steps in one system.…”