BEHAVIOR OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL PAPER AFTER CLEANING BY ORGANIC SOLVENTS UNDER HEAT ACCELERATED AGING

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to study and evaluate the organic solvent on the chemical composition of aged paper samples. chemical pulp wood samples, which were, have been cleaned with three types of sol- vent then a Measurement of mechanical properties, Measurement of color change by spectrophotometer, PH values, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR ) study were undertaken, to see if any significant structural or chemical differences could be detected between ―untreated‖ and ―treated‖ paper. Dramatic changes in functional groups on the paper surface, as monitored by FTIR, occurred in the samples before and after solvent cleaning. Mechanical properties, however, show that ethyl alcohol, toluene and acetone may give good results in cleaning paper surface, but the solvents accelerated oxidation and hydrolysis of paper samples under heat aging are another point to consider.