Abstract:
Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique was used to study the elemental composition of some
historical paper samples obtained from the National Library of South Africa. Six elements namely Fe, Cu,
Mn, Ca, K and S were detected. It was found that older documents had higher concentrations of Ca and
hence a considerable alkaline buffer than recent documents. It was also observed that the levels of Ca
dropped significantly between 1800 and 1890 coinciding with the period paper making technology also
changed. The concentrations of K and S also went down around 1890. Fe remained fairly high and was
detected in all samples. Cu and Mn were found to be at very low concentrations compared to Fe. This
research shows that Fe has the potential to impact negatively on paper permanency unless de-acidification
is undertaken because of its relative abundance compared to Cu.
