Optical response of strongly absorbing inhomogeneous materials: Application to paper degradation

M. Missori, O. Pulci, L. Teodonio, C. Violante, I. Kupchak, J. Bagniuk, J. Łojewska, and A. Mosca Conte
Phys. Rev. B 89, 054201 – Published 6 February 2014

Abstract

In this paper, we present a new noninvasive and nondestructive approach to recover scattering and absorption coefficients from reflectance measurements of highly absorbing and optically inhomogeneous media. Our approach is based on the Yang and Miklavcic theoretical model of light propagation through turbid media, which is a generalization of the Kubelka-Munk theory, extended to accommodate optically thick samples. We show its applications to paper, a material primarily composed of a web of fibers of cellulose, whose optical properties are strongly governed by light scattering effects. Samples studied were ancient and industrial paper sheets, aged in different conditions and highly absorbing in the ultraviolet region. The recovered experimental absorptions of cellulose fibers have been compared to theoretical ab initio quantum-mechanical computational simulations carried out within time-dependent density functional theory. In this way, for each sample, we evaluate the absolute concentration of different kinds of oxidized groups formed upon aging and acting as chromophores causing paper discoloration. We found that the relative concentration of different chromophores in cellulose fibers depends on the aging temperature endured by samples. This clearly indicates that the oxidation of cellulose follows temperature-dependent reaction pathways. Our approach has a wide range of applications for cellulose-based materials, like paper, textiles, and other manufactured products of great industrial and cultural interest, and can potentially be extended to other strongly absorbing inhomogeneous materials.

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  • Received 14 November 2013
  • Revised 14 January 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.054201

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

M. Missori1, O. Pulci2,3, L. Teodonio1,4, C. Violante2, I. Kupchak5, J. Bagniuk6, J. Łojewska6, and A. Mosca Conte2

  • 1Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Salaria Km 29.300, 00015 Monterotondo Scalo (Rome), Italy
  • 2ETSF, MIFP, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, I-00133 Rome, Italy
  • 3Istituto di Struttura della Materia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Rome, Italy
  • 4Centro Italiano di Studi e Ricerche di Storia e Tecnologia della Carta “Andrea F. Gasparinetti,” Via M. Bellocchi 20, 60044 Fabriano (AN), Italy
  • 5MIFP, V. Lashkarev Institute of Semiconductor Physics of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, pr. Nauki 45, 03680, Kiev, Ukraine
  • 6Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 3, 30-060 Kraków, Poland

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Issue

Vol. 89, Iss. 5 — 1 February 2014

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