FT-Raman Analysis of Cellulose based Museum Textiles: Comparison of Objects Infected and Non-infected by Fungi

Abstract

It is well-known fact that the supermolecular structure of museum textiles changes during aging and biodeterioration. These structural changes can be observed by different spectroscopic methods such as FT-IR, FT-Raman, and dispersive Raman spectroscopy. The purpose of the presented research is to present the usability of FT-Raman spectroscopy method for the analysis of the cellulose structure of the biodeteriorated historical textile fibers. Although historical textiles have already been analyzed using FT-Raman spectroscopy the method has been rarely used to analyze the changes of supermolecular structure of the biodeteriorated historical textiles attacked by microorganisms. In the research, cellulose textile samples from different museums and religious institutions were analyzed. Contemporary and historical cellulose textiles were scanned by FT-Raman spectra of reference and compared to determine the supermolecular cellulose fiber structure of each material. It has been shown that structural changes such as depolymerization and crystallinity changes can be detected using FT-Raman spectroscopy. The supermolecular changes of the cellulose fiber structure have been detected in biodeteriorated as well as in historical objects not infected by microorganisms. In the spectra of biodeteriorated objects, more intensive changes of spectral features were observed compared to spectra of non-infected samples. The changes were more pronounced at the museum objects made of flax. It can be concluded that biodeterioration causes more intensive structural changes than aging. On the basis of the research work, it has been shown that FT-Raman spectroscopy method can be used for the analysis of supermolecular structure changes of cellulose textiles.

Keywords

• historical textiles
• cellulose
• biodeterioration