Hybrid nanogels and their roles in eliminating soot stains from historical paper manuscripts

Abstract Soot stain from diverse sources is the most common stain that stains historical paper documents found in libraries, museums, and storage facilities. It is believed to be one of the types of deterioration that arises from the contact between stains and paper sheets. Therefore, in the present work, the effectiveness of the synthesized hybrid nanogel consisting of carbopol and nanoparticles (NPs) of ZnO, TiO2, or Fe3O4, in low and high-viscosity forms, for eliminating soot stains from historical paper manuscripts was conducted. The prepared hybrid nanogels were characterized utilizing the TEM, AFM, XRD, DLS, and Zeta Potential techniques. Following preparation, the soot-stained paper samples were heated to 105 °C for 6 days, a process known as accelerated thermal aging. Surface morphology, mechanical properties and the color change of the paper samples were investigated. The prepared hybrid nanogel had a spherical shape with well-defined edges and uniform size, with an average particle diameter ranging from 30 to 35 nm. There was no significant NPs agglomeration seen, suggesting uniform dispersion in the carbopol matrix. Additionally, the prepared gels' crystal structure and phase purity were revealed by the XRD analysis results. Paper fibers were visible in some parts of the treated sample with TiO2/carbopol hybrid nanogel at high-viscosity before aging. Cleaning soot-stained paper samples using high-viscosity Fe3O4/carbopol hybrid nanogel is more successful than using low-viscosity nanogel. the sample treated with high-viscosity ZnONPs/carbopol hybrid nanogel produced the highest total color differences (ΔE) (26.17). The paper sample treated with high-viscosity ZnO/carbopol hybrid nanogel exhibited the maximum tensile strength (61.8 N/mm2) and elongation at break (1.174%). The evaluation of the paper samples both before and after the cleaning process revealed that, the treatment with high-viscosity ZnO/carbopol hybrid nanogel gave the best results in removing soot stains from stained paper samples.