Journal of Cultural Heritage最新文献

{"title":"Plasticizer Migration in Plasticized PVC: Experimental and Molecular Insights Relevant to Heritage Conservation","authors":"Marwa Saad,&nbsp;Karol Górecki,&nbsp;Sonia Bujok,&nbsp;Artur Michalak,&nbsp;Krzysztof Kruczała","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is widely represented in modern heritage collections, yet its long-term stability is strongly affected by plasticizer migration, evaporation, and surface accumulation. This study uses model plasticized PVC films to examine how the molecular structure of common plasticizers (DBP, DEHP, DINP, and DOTP) controls retention and degradation behavior relevant to conservation. Accelerated aging experiments combined with ATR-FTIR, NMR, and UV–Vis spectroscopies showed that neat plasticizers are thermally stable under dry conditions, although DBP is especially vulnerable to hydrolysis under elevated humidity. In model PVC films, DBP was lost most rapidly, DEHP showed intermediate retention, whereas DINP and DOTP were retained more effectively. Density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations provide molecular-level insight into these trends, indicating that DBP, DEHP, and DOTP are preferentially stabilized at the PVC surface, promoting migration, while DINP is more stable when embedded between PVC chains. Energy decomposition analysis (ETS-NOCV) identifies dispersion interactions as the dominant factor governing plasticizer-PVC compatibility, with interaction strength increasing in the order DBP &lt; DEHP &lt; DOTP ≈ DINP. These findings are supported by large-scale MD simulations, which confirm the surface affinity of DOTP in extended polymer systems. The combined experimental and theoretical approach elucidates the mechanisms underlying plasticizer migration and retention, improves the prediction of material behavior, and helps museum professionals identify potentially endangered PVC-based cultural heritage objects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 425-435"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149347596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A few remarks about the causes of fungal growth susceptibility of papers made using various technologies","authors":"Joanna Karbowska-Berent,&nbsp;Tomasz Kozielec,&nbsp;Małgorzata Rudnicka,&nbsp;Konrad Olejnik,&nbsp;Marta Chylińska,&nbsp;Krystyna Pałubicka","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.09.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.09.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As it has been observed in conservation practice, the varying susceptibility of different paper types to biodeterioration is one of the consequences of the material’s diverse composition, as well the technologies of its production. This work aimed to compare the fungal growth susceptibility of 30 paper samples produced in different times and technologies: handmade paper manufactured before 1850 (group I), machine paper from the period of the 1850s to the 1970s (group II), and modern machine paper from 1990 to 2020 (group III). The samples were inoculated by immersion in suspensions of three microfungi: <em>Cladosporium herbarum, Alternaria</em> sp., and <em>Penicillium chrysogenum</em>. After 3 weeks of incubation at a temperature of 28 °C, the paper samples, covered by fungal growth to various extents, were sterilized with ethylene oxide. The percentage of surface covered with growth in every paper sample was established with the computer program NIS Elements AR (NIKON). Simultaneously, the properties of the tested papers were examined: the fibre composition, sizing type, presence of lignin, pH as well as hygroscopicity (H), water absorption (W), water absorption rate (WAR) and the average water contact angle (WCA). The correlations between the mentioned features and the percentage of surface overgrown with fungi were estimated statistically using IBM SPSS Statistics Imago Program 9.0. The handmade paper samples (group I) became overgrown to a larger extent than the other ones (differences statistically significant); the machine paper samples (groups II and III) were overgrown to a similar extent (differences not statistically significant). Positive high correlations were identified between susceptibility, rag pulp and proteins, whereas negative high correlations existed between susceptibility and softwood pulp. All the samples absorbed enough moisture from the air to enable fungal growth (8%). The absorption of liquid water exceeded the required quantity. Therefore, no statistically significant correlation was noted between the degree of paper coverage by fungi and parameters relating to the absorbency of paper samples, i.e. hygroscopicity, water absorption and water contact angle.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 378-385"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149347594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A colorimetric method to quantify acetic acid emissions from cellulose acetate motion picture films","authors":"Lisa Vergelli,&nbsp;Francesca Frasca,&nbsp;Chiara Bertolin,&nbsp;Gabriele Favero,&nbsp;Anna Maria Siani","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vinegar Syndrome (VS) is the typical chemical decay process resulting from the hydrolytic deacetylation of the cellulose acetate polymer, which leads to the emission of acetic acid. In archives storing cellulose acetate motion picture films, acetic acid detection strips are widely used to monitor VS progression; however, the interpretation of their colour changes remains qualitative and subjective, potentially leading to errors in the estimation of acetic acid concentrations and, consequently, of the VS stage. This study proposes an objective and quantitative method to assess strip colour changes and relate them to the acetic acid concentrations released by films affected by VS. The two types of detection strips most widely used in film archives worldwide were investigated. In laboratory experiments, strip colour was measured by spectrophotocolorimetry before and after exposure to known acetic acid concentrations, using the hue angle value as the metric. The same approach was then applied at two national film archives to test its feasibility. In the case studies, strip colour was interpreted together with metadata relating to the inspected film reels in order to explore which intrinsic and extrinsic factors may influence VS progression. The laboratory results demonstrate a sigmoidal relationship between hue angle values and acetic acid concentrations for both strip types, while revealing differences in their sensitivity, particularly in the autocatalytic concentration range of VS. The case-study results suggest that reel-specific manufacturing features and environmental and use history may influence single-reel VS progression more strongly than the current storage environment. The proposed method can be routinely implemented by archival staff in less than five minutes per film reel, including both strip colorimetric measurements and transcription of the resulting parameters into a database. This allows the creation of a traceable record of this information over time, which can be integrated with other routinely collected data.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 436-445"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149348126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing the Oddy test for assessing the suitability of museums display cases materials: Insights from a comparative emission study","authors":"Lucrezia Barchi,&nbsp;Francesca Rosi,&nbsp;Gabriele Cencetti,&nbsp;Fabiana Di Gianvincenzo,&nbsp;Francesca Ieri,&nbsp;Sara Mattana,&nbsp;Aldo Romani,&nbsp;Barbara Salvadori,&nbsp;Lisa Volpe,&nbsp;Matija Strlič,&nbsp;Cristiano Riminesi,&nbsp;Costanza Miliani","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.09.015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.09.015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Volatile organic compounds emitted by materials used in museum display cases pose risks to the preservation of cultural heritage objects. Traditional assessment methods, such as the Oddy test, present limitations including subjectivity and lack of chemical specificity.</div><div>To strengthen the Oddy test as a reference method for assessing emissions from display case materials, two complementary variants have been integrated: a cellulose-based modification, already employed to broaden the test’s sensitivity to the degradation of organic materials, and an IR-assisted approach, which enables the identification of corrosion products and thereby enhances both the interpretation of test results and the overall assessment of materials. The multimodal Oddy test approach has been supported by chromatographic techniques (µCTE-TD-GC–MS and SPME-GC–MS) on a common set of showcase materials.</div><div>This integrated methodology revealed differences in material emissions and identified compounds potentially harmful to metals and organic substrates. Our findings demonstrate the advantages of combining complementary analytical methods to enhance the evaluation of material suitability for museum environments. This work supports the development of more robust, sensitive, and practical protocols for selecting safer materials, thereby contributing to improved preventive conservation strategies<em>.</em></div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 456-466"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149348127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Technological choices for chromatic gradation in Western Han lacquerwares from the North Wangjiagang Cemetery China","authors":"Yaoyao Zhang,&nbsp;Yingchun Fu,&nbsp;Wei Wang,&nbsp;Bing Dong,&nbsp;Longlong Li,&nbsp;Shunli Gao,&nbsp;Yun Xu,&nbsp;Lulu Li,&nbsp;Shuya Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study of Western Han Dynasty lacquerwares colors has been constrained by two factors. Firstly, the analysis of samples has been carried out in isolation. Secondly, an inadequate understanding of color gradation technologies has been demonstrated. In order to address these gaps, this study investigates eight Western Han lacquer fragments exhibiting a black-to-red color gradient from the North Wangjiagang Cemetery using a multi-analytical approach. This approach includes the use of a spectrophotometer, an ultra-depth 3D video microscope, a SEM-EDS, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, XPS, and THM-Py-GC/MS. The results establish a clear correspondence between the material composition and color variation of lacquerwares from the North Wangjiagang cemetery. All eight samples exhibited the use of urushi in the pigment layer. Among them, black pigments employed iron rust water, copper sulfide compounds (such as chalcocite and covellite), and carbon black; red pigments utilized pure cinnabar and cinnabar containing trace amounts of Ti; while for transitional colors, different functional additives such as limewater, starch, drying oil, or aluminosilicate are selectively added to different samples. This study provides a systematic account of the compositional and technological mechanisms that underpin the black-to-red color gradient observed in Western Han lacquerwares.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 412-424"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149348124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"And after burial? Corrosion structures of high-lead glazed ceramics in Al-Andalus objects from Palmela Castle (West Portugal)","authors":"Ana S. Saraiva,&nbsp;Mathilda Larsson Coutinho,&nbsp;Isabel Cristina Fernandes,&nbsp;João Pedro Veiga","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study of the degradation of archaeological objects is essential for guiding their conservation and restoration, alongside understanding possible formal and aesthetic changes that may have occurred since their burial. Several difficulties hinder these studies as numerous factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, are involved in the degradation processes. In the present work, we focused on a group of representative green and honeydew transparent glazed fragments from Pamela Castle, dated between the 9th and 11th centuries. A comparison of different coloured archaeological lead-glazes subjected to broadly comparable environmental conditions was possible, enabling a direct evaluation of corrosion patterns while accounting for potential microenvironmental variations. All objects were studied by OM and SEM-EDS to assess the glaze’s corrosion structures and investigate the associated degradation processes. Results allowed the identification of two corrosion layers on all fragments; however, these presented significantly different characteristics depending on glaze colour. The intermediate layer presents a large depletion of the major glaze constituents for the honeydew ones, while for the greens, this layer displays an apparent silica enrichment and a banded structure, identified as a Liesegang-like corrosion pattern. The findings revealed distinct corrosion structures associated with the different glaze colours, which were used as the basis for a schematic representation of the degradation structures identified in this case study.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 402-411"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149348125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ventilation as a preservation strategy for timber roof trusses: A multi-method assessment of microclimate in historical attic spaces","authors":"Michal Poljak,&nbsp;Radoslav Ponechal","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.09.018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.09.018","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ventilation is among the most effective methods for ensuring favourable indoor climatic conditions in buildings. This research study focused on analysing the impact of ventilation on the indoor climate of attic spaces in listed sacral buildings. The research consisted of microclimatic monitoring of attic spaces in three churches located in northern Slovakia, combined with dynamic ventilation simulations. The aim of the monitoring was to analyse and evaluate the microclimatic conditions in the attic spaces, refine the monitoring methodology, improve applied procedures, and optimise the system of continuous measurement of indoor environmental parameters. Based on the measured air temperature and air relative humidity, theoretical wood equilibrium moisture contents were derived to illustrate the spatial distribution of moisture and seasonal trends. In addition, air mixing ratios were calculated to enable the assessment of the air’s drying potential throughout the year. Dynamic simulations were conducted to evaluate the effect of ventilating historical attics by opening the church entrance doors under three levels of humidity load and in three locations characterised by different climatic conditions. The results of this multi-method approach demonstrated that the specific characteristics of attic environments arise from the complex interaction of climatic, operational, and structural factors. Under certain conditions—particularly during the spring period or in cases of high humidity load—ventilation can support the natural drying of timber roof structures. However, the findings also indicate that ventilation is not universally beneficial. Therefore, a responsive ventilation strategy that considers current weather conditions and the drying potential of outdoor air is recommended. Moreover, the identification of representative sunny and cloudy days revealed specific climatic conditions under which the drying potential is most pronounced. The findings of this study thus provide valuable recommendations for the sustainable preservation of centuries-old timber roof structures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 361-377"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149361754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A spectroscopic characterisation of the dyes extracted from Iris germanica and their identification on illuminated manuscripts","authors":"Elisa Calà,&nbsp;Cristina Fornacelli,&nbsp;Federica Gulino,&nbsp;Francesca Robotti,&nbsp;Giovanni Bartolozzi,&nbsp;Marcello Picollo,&nbsp;Maurizio Aceto","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Iris</em> flowers have been used for their dying properties at least since the Middle Ages and for centuries later in Europe. In particular, as regards the <em>Iris germanica</em> species, the colours that can be obtained from the petals are violet (the pure juice), dark blue (upon addition of alum) and green (upon alkalisation). The ancient technical treatises are rich with recipes describing the preparation of these dyes.</div><div>Nevertheless, the dyes of <em>Iris germanica</em> have rarely, if ever, been identified on paintings. This could be due to a lack of diagnostic information, useful for the selective identification of these dyes. In fact, normally the identification of organic colourants throughout non-invasive methods is complex and generally harder than for inorganic colourants. In this study, non-invasive spectroscopic techniques, such as UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optical fibres (FORS), FT-IR spectrophotometry in reflectance mode and Fibre Optic Molecular Fluorescence (FOMF), as well as micro-invasive techniques such as Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) and FT-IR spectrophotometry in transmittance mode, have been used to characterise the dyes extracted from the petals of <em>Iris germanica.</em> In the end, the methods exploited in this work have been built to move from laboratory-based information retrieved through non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques, to the <em>in-situ</em> study of manuscripts in which we identified selectively the dyes and, in particular, the iris green cited by the ancient technical treatises. Moreover, the combined application of these techniques could allow to identify its presence even in cases when the dye is mixed with verdigris or superimposed on it.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 386-401"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149347595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Non-destructive terahertz assessment of mechanical fragility in palm-leaf manuscripts using interpretable machine learning","authors":"Liuyang Han,&nbsp;Hang Qi,&nbsp;Dehao Yu,&nbsp;Panpan Yu,&nbsp;Jiawei Chu,&nbsp;Min Yu,&nbsp;Hong Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conservation of palm-leaf manuscripts (PLMs) requires tools that can estimate mechanical fragility without additional sampling once calibrated against reference mechanical data. This study develops a conservation-oriented, calibration-based workflow that integrates terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), supervised regression, cross-validated model evaluation, and SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) for quantitative prediction of tensile strength. A total of 223 independent palm-leaf specimens representing different deterioration states were measured by THz-TDS, and reference tensile-strength labels were obtained by destructive testing along the longitudinal fiber direction for model calibration. Absorption-coefficient spectra were modeled using partial least squares regression (PLSR), random forest (RF), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), with performance evaluated through cross-validation and a held-out test set. The optimized RF model achieved the best test-set performance (R² = 0.931, RMSE = 3.284 MPa, MAE = 2.807 MPa, MAPE = 14.078%). SHAP analysis identified absorption coefficients at 0.568 THz, 0.569 THz, and 0.205 THz as the most influential predictors. The adjacent variables at 0.568 and 0.569 THz are interpreted as a correlated predictive spectral region whose physical origin remains hypothetical. These results support a calibration-based proof of concept for tensile-strength estimation under the investigated specimen, instrument, acquisition, and environmental conditions. Once appropriately calibrated, THz-TDS acquisition and model prediction can be applied non-destructively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 317-323"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149362312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose as an effective consolidant for freeze-drying conservation of waterlogged bamboo slips","authors":"Ting Zhao,&nbsp;Yafei Feng,&nbsp;Zhuoyue Cheng,&nbsp;Zhuoli Yin,&nbsp;Haoyuan Hui,&nbsp;Yi Qin,&nbsp;WenLing Wu,&nbsp;Jianfeng Zhu,&nbsp;Hongjie Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.culher.2026.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address the challenge of stabilizing highly degraded simulated waterlogged bamboo slips while preserving their original chemical characteristics, this study developed a mild consolidation strategy based on hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) impregnation combined with freeze-drying. Simulated waterlogged bamboo slips were treated with different HPMC concentrations, impregnation temperatures, and durations, and the consolidation performance was systematically evaluated using dimensional stability measurements, mechanical testing, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optimum treatment (5 wt% HPMC, 60 °C, 7 d) reduced volumetric shrinkage to 4.69%(corresponding to anti-shrinkage efficiencies (ASE) of 85.48–91.30%), increased the flexural strength to 4.65 MPa, and improved the surface hardness (Shore D) to 75.6–78.4, demonstrating substantial enhancement of both dimensional stability and mechanical performance. FTIR and XRD analyses suggested that HPMC did not induce chemical modification or cellulose phase transformation, indicating that the reinforcement was achieved through physical interactions involving hydroxyl groups and intermolecular associations rather than extensive covalent reactions, while preserving the intrinsic chemical identity of the bamboo substrate.LF-NMR analysis further revealed that HPMC consolidation altered the water-binding environment by reducing water mobility and increasing molecular confinement within the bamboo matrix, providing complementary evidence for enhanced interfacial stabilization during drying. SEM observations, together with freeze-dried HPMC controls, revealed that HPMC formed a continuous membrane-like network coating vascular bundles and parenchyma tissues, thereby enhancing interfacial bonding and mitigating structural collapse during freeze-drying. Furthermore, wet–heat aging (25 °C and 60% RH for 30 days) confirmed the durability of the HPMC-treated bamboo, with volumetric shrinkage maintained below 2%, negligible changes in hardness, and &lt;8% reduction in bending strength, demonstrating the long-term environmental stability of the HPMC-derived network.These findings demonstrate that HPMC functions as both a physical binder and a structural scaffold, providing an effective, polysaccharide-based consolidation strategy for the long-term preservation of degraded waterlogged bamboo cultural heritage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15480,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cultural Heritage","volume":"82 ","pages":"Pages 324-338"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149361755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}