Degradation of cellulose at the wet-dry interface: I-study of the depolymerization

The degradation of cellulose in paper due to the formation of a tideline at the wet-dry interface when paper is suspended in water was explored. SEC/MALS was used to assess the molar mass, while ICP/MS, SEM/EDS and CE/UV provided a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the elements and inorganic ions present in the paper. Immediately after the formation of the tideline, no significant depolymerization was observed at the wet-dry interface, despite the accumulation of water soluble brown and/or fluorescent degradation compounds and salts containing sodium, chlorine, sulfur and calcium. Various artificial aging configurations were applied to the paper with tidelines to evaluate the effect of the material accumulated at the wet-dry interface on the long-term stability of paper. The decrease in the molar mass of cellulose (above, at and below the tideline) differed depending on the type of aging, i. e. whether the entire sheet of paper was aged or whether small amounts of paper from the different areas were sampled and aged, individually or together, which evidences a complex degradation pathway. In the former aging configuration the material accumulated in the tideline affected the degradation of the tideline area to the same extent or more than the other areas. When the different areas of the paper sheet were sampled and aged together, it was found that the presence of the tideline clearly affected the degradation of the other paper areas. Conversely, in that case, cellulose within the tidelines was the least degraded. The area below the tideline, through which the water migrated, showed the most significant degradation.