Innovative Plasma Processes for Consolidation of Biodeteriorated Ancient Papers

Deterioration of paper materials is mainly due to the degradation of cellulose caused by a lot of factors such as chemical attack due to acidic hydrolysis, oxidative agent, light, air pollution and biological attack due to presence of microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. Various technologies exist to limit the degradation of the paper materials but in a few cases are unsuited or produce no good results. Plasma technology is an innovative process which can be an alternative to the conventional methods. The plasma treatment produces a synergetic result of sterilization and coating of the paper. This technology is environmentally friendly and can be used for industrial applications. The aim of this project is the increasing of the paper tensile strength and paper conservation by means of several different plasma treatments.