Facile Multifunction Biopolymer Hydrogels for the Potential Treatment of Historical Paper

Old historical paper is one of the most important materials that carry nations' sciences, arts, features and lives throughout the ages. So, this study aims to find an eco-friendly method for treating historical papers with improving their physical and chemical properties. Hydrogels were prepared from Tylose MH 300 and Funori using calcium acetate as a crosslinker. In addition, multifunction materials such as EDTA, Sodium Dithionite, and Nano Calcium Carbonate were loaded onto Tylose and Funori to get multifunction hydrogels. The Tylose, Funori, and their multifunction hydrogels were used to clean historical papers against tidelines, rust, and foxing strains. The swellability, TGA, ATR, XRD analysis, and SEM with EDX analysis were used to characterize the prepared hydrogels. The photography, digital microscope, pH, color change, and ATR analysis were used to investigate the cleaning efficiencies of hydrogels. The results indicated that the Funori hydrogels are preferred over Tylose in cleaning the paper stains, and the loading cleaning agents improved the hydrogel efficiency.