Non-Destructive Evaluation of Historical Paper Based on pH Estimation from VOC Emissions

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from materials during degradationcan be a valuable source of information. In this work, the emissions of furfural and aceticacid from cellulose were studied using solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) incombination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Two sampling techniques wereemployed: static headspace sampling using SPME for 1 h at 40 oC after 18-h samplepreparation at 80 oC in a closed glass vial, and contact SPME in a stack of paper (or abook). While a number of VOCs are emitted from paper under conditions of natural oraccelerated degradation, two compounds were confirmed to be of particular diagnosticvalue: acetic acid and furfural. The emissions of furfural are shown to correlate with pH ofthe cellulosic environment. Since pH is one of the most important parameters regardingdurability of this material, the developed method could be used for non-destructiveevaluation of historical paper.