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FTIR - Deconvolution Spectra of Paper Documents by P. CALVINI A. GORASSINI Introduction Infrared spectroscopy is widely applied to the analysis of cellulose and its derivatives1-3, owing to their industrial importance in textile and papermaking technology. With a few exceptions4-7, much less work has been published about the characterisation of ancient paper documents, although this microdestructive technique seems to be very attractive in the field of paper conservation science, particularly today, when the development of Fourier transform spectrometers (FTTR) provide a reliable improvement of instrumental sensitivity. Moreover, digital computing of FTTR data allows the deconvolution7 and subtraction of overlapping bands, resulting in a more significant attribution of recorded peaks. The intention of this paper is to show how the numerical elaboration of FTIR bands can shed light on the composition and degradation of paper, of laboratory-made papers as well as of historic items. Experimental Composition and preparation of samples. The standard paper was a Whatman no.l sample, chromatographic grade. It was selected from a recent stock, and showed a very good FTlR spectrum, where only the cellulose bands and the adsorbed water are present. The laboratory-made sized papers (Table 1) were prepared with another sheet of Whatman no.l paper, stored in the laboratory without particular precautions. This caused a faint oxidation, revealed by the FTIR spectrum, so that the untreated and/or unaged specimens of this work were, indeed, slightly oxidized. Details of samples preparation and properties as well as their FTIR spectra have been published elsewhere6. Accelerated ageing Accelerated ageing was performed in 13 ml glass tubes at 90±10°C using 0.6 to 0.7 g. of the samples. Tubes were sealed in ambient air with and without adding a drop of concentrated HCl in order to create an acidic and a normal atmosphere respectively6. The contact between paper samples and acid was avo