Experimental study demonstrates enhanced preservation of pigmented Xuan paper using high-strength gelatin and metal chelators, highlighting a preventive conservation strategy for cultural relics.
Red mineral pigments are widely used in traditional calligraphy and painting, but the metal ions they contain will catalyze the degradation of cellulose and accelerate the aging of paper. In this study, the effects of four different strengths of gelatin (G50, G100, G200 and G250) on the aging properties of paper were systematically studied using unsized Xuan paper as the base material with ochre as the pigment, and the optimal strength gelatin was selected in combination with three inhibitors EDTA, sodium phytate and tea polyphenols to explore its combined protection effect on pigment paper. The results showed that the higher the strength of gelatin, the better the durability of the paper. After the combination of G250 gelatin with EDTA or sodium phytate, the polymerization retention rate was further improved under hydrothermal aging and UV aging, showing a significant combined protective effect. Tea polyphenols have a negative impact on paper performance. The use of high-strength gelatin can effectively delay the aging of pigment paper, and its combination with metal chelating agent is a feasible preventive protection strategy for calligraphy and painting cultural relics.
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Liu et al. (2026) studied this question.
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