For years paper has been of interest as a renewable and recyclable polymeric material, with continual manufacturing changes occurring in response to environmental and industrial needs. The Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) at the Library of Congress is home to a few uniquely ambitious analytical collections for understanding the aging and preservation of printed book paper. For example, the Barrow Book Collection includes 1000 books spanning 500 years of printing, and the recently initiated “Assessing the Physical Condition of the National Collection” project contains matching copies of “identical” books from five partner institutions spread across the United States. Books from these collections are specifically available for technical and scientific testing, such as mechanical and chemical analyses, to better understand the physicochemical properties of aging collections of cultural heritage.<br/><br/>Researchers from PRTD have been using size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) to attempt to quantify the macromolecular cellulose size and composition within these wide range of books. SEC of cellulosic materials is already historically fraught with complications of both solvent and equipment. However, the sheer variation in raw materials used in the making of book papers, combined with unknown and unknowable consequences of time, presents additional challenges for SEC characterization. For example, due to resource cost and availability, paper made prior to the first half of the 19th century are known to use primarily cotton/rag fibers which are relatively pure in cellulose, while newer papers incorporate significant amounts of wood pulp. Aside from variations in pulp content, changes in paper sizing, processing, and dying, can introduce components which introduce a range of misleading or anomalous behavior during testing.<br/><br/>This work will describe how researchers at the Library are using multi-detection SEC methods to attempt to understand the molecular size of cellulose in aged book papers. These methods show how the molecular weight of cellulose can be tied to different pulp compositions, and how the processing of these pulps affects the analytical prep and dissolution process.

Paper sourcing and cellulose molecular weight: how pulp composition challenges the SEC analysis of naturally-aged book paper

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.