Short- and Long-Term Effects of X-ray Synchrotron Radiation on Cotton Paper.

X-ray analytical techniques are increasingly being used to study manuscripts and works of art on paper, whether with laboratory equipment or synchrotron sources. However, it is difficult to anticipate the impact of X-ray photons on paper- and cellulose-based artifacts, particularly due to the large variety of their constituents and degradation levels, and the subsequent material multiscale heterogeneity. In this context, this work aims at developing an analytical approach to study the modifications in paper upon synchrotron radiation (SR) X-ray radiation using analytical techniques, which are fully complementary and highly sensitive, yet not frequently used together.

Accurate molar masses of cellulose for the determination of degradation rates in complex paper samples.

Complex cellulosic samples are often difficult to analyse with size-exclusion chromatography. The strong molecular associations of hemicelluloses and lignin with cellulose produce multimodal molar mass distributions (MMD) that are difficult to interpret. More reliable ways of calculating the molar masses of cellulose are thus necessary.