engleski

Radiation treatment of aged model textile samples

Sensitivity of natural fibers to biological deteriorants is a serious problem in protecting textile heritage objects. Radiation treatment is a common method of pest control and decontamination. In processing of objects of cultural heritage doses are selected according to contamination - up to 0.5 kGy for disinsection, 4-10 kGy for fungi control and 5-20 kGy ensures microbiological decontamination. Along with many other cultural heritage objects, textile items mainly ethnological significance were treated in 60Co gamma radiation source Ruder Boskovic Institute in Zagreb, Croatia [2] and were efficiently disinsected by applying of radiation dose of less than 2 kGy . In order to meet the high standards of conservators possible effects of higher doses should be assesed. Tests were conducted onmodel samples of the most commonmaterials in heritage items - silk, flax cotton, and wool. To ensure that any of the radiation effects will be observed a high dose of D=120 kGy in contact with air was applied. A part of the samples were heat- or UV - aged before exposure to γ- irradiation. Changes were determined by thermal analysis: differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results indicated that even such a large doses caused almost no change in the materials based on protein fibers (silk, wool, while those based on cellulose (cotton, flax showed somewhat reduced thermal stability on irradiation. SEM images confirmed those observations. Despite the high dose changes due to radiation were comparable to or lesser than those caused artificial aging. Based on these results it can be concluded that the radiation treatment iof heritage textile materials will not cause damage if performed fat the doses needed for controlling fungi.

textile heritage; gamma irradiation; disinsection; microbiological decontamination

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