Studies On The Physical And Chemical Properties Of The Handmade Painting Paper

Handmade painting paper as a high-grade cultural paper has a long history. Handmade painting paper is usually fabricated from mulberry bark, paper mulberry, bamboo, pteroceltis tatarinowii, straw and so on. Choosing different raw materials must use different manufacturing processes. But overall, the handmade painting paper is generally made by the papermaking process which is more complicated. This paper is whiter than other paper. And the texture, strength and toughness of the paper are better than other paper. It is often used in painting and calligraphy, picture-mounting, repair of ancient books and other special purposes.By referring to the collation of ancient literature, field surveys and other methods, I analyzed the status of the handmade painting paper and the change of the procedure. Fourteen kinds of handmade painting paper were selected as experimental samples. Then I did a 60-days dry heat aging test. I tested the folding strength, tensile strength, tear strength, chromatic aberration, pH value, degree of polymerization, water absorption and ink embellishment after aging the samples. According to the different material, I put the samples into three groups for comparison analysis. The results show:1. On the whole, before aging, the physical and chemical properties of paper made by mulberry bark are better than rice paper and bamboo paper. But after aging, the physical and chemical properties of the bark paper decrease faster than rice paper and bamboo paper and the retention rate of bark paper is lower.2. The rice paper is more suitable in painting than the bamboo paper and bark paper. And bamboo paper is better than bark paper in painting.According to the experimental data and the papermaking process, I compared the traditional technology in cooking and bleaching with modern technology. The main conclusions are as follows:1. Before aging, the paper physical strength has the very big relations with the fiber strength of the paper itself. And it has little relations with the technology of papermaking.2. Using industrial bleaching agent can significantly improve the whiteness of paper.3. After aging, the physical strength of the paper is greatly influenced by the papermaking process. A lot of paper which is made by modern papermaking technology will decrease the physical strength significantly. And using traditional papermaking process will decrease the physical strength of paper more gentle.4. Not all of the physical and chemical properties of the paper which is made by modern papermaking technology will decrease quickly with the increase of aging time. Some paper made by modern technology still maintains a good durability. The reason also needs further discussion. Whether the cooking process will affect the pH value of paper and whether strong base will increase pH value need further discussion.