Measurements of Paper Components
UWA-DESY Cooperation
Researchers from UWA and the German Electron Synchrotron DESY are carrying out pilot studies to investigate historical written artefacts at the X-ray radiation source PETRA III. The key advantage of X-ray investigations is that the artefacts can be examined without any destruction. As far as the examination method allows, no special sample preparation is required – the precious and unique objects thus remain intact.
This study revolves around 65 tsakalis – Tibetan written artefacts that belong to the Bon religion from the 15th to the 17th centuries. These are cards with spiritual drawings and texts that were used for meditation and initiation rites. They were made by a master, especially for his students. This study aims to find out whether the non-destructive material characterisation methods Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) at the SAXSMAT beamline at DESY can provide quantitative information about the materials used, and their processing.
For the measurements of the tsakalis, a special sample holder was developed to examine the sensitive manuscripts with the X-ray beam. The SAXS measurements provide information about the paper structure on the nanometer scale, in particular about the size distribution of the cellulose fibers and their orientation. This information will allow drawing conclusions about the manufacturing process of the paper used for the tsakalis, and, in the best case, answer the question of whether all tsakalis were manufactured at the same time and place. The WAXS measurements taken at the same time will provide information about the pigments that are used for the drawings and texts on the manuscript.
Key Facts
Project coordination: Agnieszka Helman-Ważny, Sylvio Haas, Małgorzata Grzelec
Cooperation partners: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
Duration: since 2023
Further information: