SEM and ToF-SIMS Ion Imaging Applied to Characterization of Fungal Biodeterioration of Paper in the Context of Cultural Heritage Collections

Fungal biodeterioration of artworks on paper and historic documents results from complex interactions of heterogenous cellular materials with living systems. The biodeterioration of paper is manifested by prominent staining and structural polymer degradation of paper by fungal enzymatic activities. Pigmentation produced by fungi results from their complex bio-chemical processed within their cell structures and is defined as secondary naphtoquinon metabolites. Although fungal biodeterioration has been studied for number of years the research has been focused on visual effects of biodeterioration, identification and description of fungal species, stipulation of causes and DNA sequencing; no studies of interfaces of fungi and paper matrix have been undertaken. Furthermore, black stains on paper caused by pigmented mycelium and spores only recently received some attention [1] most studies were focused on black staining of stone sculptures [2, 3]. This investigation explores stain formation attributed to meristematic fungi and employs time-of-flight secondary ionization mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to chemically characterize biodeteriorated paper.