Accelerated ageing of cotton canvas as a model for further consolidation practices

Journal article, 2017

In order to assess the effectiveness of various practices for canvas consolidation, model substrates are needed. In this work, a method of rapid ageing of cotton canvas is described. The method consists of treatment of the canvas with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid at 40 degrees C during 72 hours to mimic to some extent the natural processes of oxidation and acid-catalysed hydrolysis of cellulose. Two protocols for canvas degradation were developed, which reduced the degree of polymerization of cellulose from ca.6250 to ca.1350 and 450. The reduction of the mechanical properties and the increase of the negative charge were also quantified. These samples were compared with a canvas degraded using a state-of-the-art method that takes up to 20 days. The results show that the developed method can provide a rapid procedure for preparing small samples for testing various consolidation strategies by conservators.