Evaluation of the Efficiency of traditional chitosan, Nano chitosan and chitosan nanocomposites for strengthening aged papyrus paper

Cellulose based materials, such as papyrus sheets and paper, which are the most common types of writing supports for works of art in many museums and archive. They are subjected to different types of deterioration factors that may lead to many conservation problems. Consolidation treatment one of the most common conservation treatments, which should have perform after much testing to select the appropriate consolidants This research aims to evaluate the resistance of traditional chitosan, nanochitosan, and chitosan /zinc oxide nanocomposite as an eco-friendly papyrus strengthening. Untreated and treated papyrus was thermally aged and characterized via Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Antimicrobial activity of the papyrus specimens was also determined against four tested pathogenic bacteria by disc diffusion method. MRSA , Staphylococcus aureus , E. coli, and P. aeruginosa. The results revealed that chitosan nanocomposite showed a remarkable enhancement of papyrus tensile properties and presence of ZnO prevents the effects of biodeterioration.