The effect of cellulose nanofibers treatment on the discoloration of historical papers

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cellulose nanofiber treatment on discoloration of historical papers. In this study, two types of cellulose nanofiber suspensions with a concentration of 1% by weight with water and ethanol were prepared. After treatment, the prepared samples were subjected to moist-heat aging according to TAPPI T 544 sp-03 standard and colorimetric, pH, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and SEM microscopy were performed before and after aging. Examination of ATR-FTIR spectra obtained from the samples showed that the application of cellulose nanofiber treatment does not cause damage to the paper structure. After application of two treatments with cellulose nanofibers, the color of the samples became brighter, but after accelerated aging, the brightness of the samples decreased.The darkening of the color of the samples was caused by their exposure to accelerated aging conditions and the treatment of cellulose nanofibers did not cause discoloration. The pH of the samples increased after application of both types of cellulose nanofiber treatments, but after accelerated aging, the pH decreased slightly.