X-ray fluorescence spectrometry on paper characterization: A case study on XVIII and XIX century documents

Paper documents from XVIII and XIX centuries were analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. The presence of Co (400 µg g− 1), Ni (300 µg g− 1), As (2000 µg g− 1) and Bi (200 µg g− 1) in Dutch papers and a Hespe watermarked paper allowed distinguishing them from the rest of the papers. The elemental composition of the ink present in these documents was also studied with the same technique and it was concluded that these elements could not be originated from ink dissemination. Strong positive Spearman correlations between Co, Ni, As and Bi were found in all Dutch and Hespe watermarked papers. Potassium and Ca are the predominant elements in all analyzed papers. Their concentration levels also allowed differentiating between Dutch and Hespe papers and the rest of the papers. Other elements such as Ti, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ba and Pb were also found. In this work a bibliographic research about the possible origin of each one of the mentioned elements present in the papers is also reported.