The efficiency of the cold argon-oxygen plasma for controlling the fungal of documents in cultural heritage

Different artworks, pharmacopeia as well as the history of different ancient tribes can be found in the paper manuscript left by them. Fungi are among the most degradative micro-organisms which deteriorate paperbased items of cultural heritage. Appropriate conservation treatments to deal with fungal infections include mechanical, chemical and biological methods, which can cause some undesirable effects on the paper itself and health hazards for humans. Using different radiations are among those methods which are used for controlling cellulolytic fungi. Plasma in the physical sciences refers to an intermediate or almost ionized medium. When the gas is exposed to an electrical drain, the plasma is produced. The degree of ionization can vary from 100% to very low values. Therefore, it seems that the plasma is suitable for sterilization. The aim of this study is to control Alternaria sp. and Cladosporium species causing biodeterioration on some books in the national library of Iran. For testing the antifungal effect, the cold Argon-oxygen plasma jet was used against the 250 μl of spores poured into a petri dish. The treatment was carried out using 1.2 Watt of plasma and four replications were made for each treatment. The result showed that the radiation energy of the cold Argonoxygen plasma jet had the full control efficiency on Alternaria sp. but it couldn’t prevent and control Cladosporium sp. growth.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cultural Heritage ، Controlling ، Alternaria sp. ، Cladosporium sp. ، Cold argon-oxygen plasma