Using FTIR to Study the Chemical Degradation of Archaeological Wood in EL-Moez Street

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University

Abstract

Despite the complex structure of wood, it is a very sensitive material easy to degrade for several factors. FTIR spectroscopy is an excellent analytical method to characterize wood degradation by revealing chemical changes in wood structure in terms of the oxidation or hydrolysis mechanisms in the basic components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. This paper presents assessing the different degradation types of archaeological wood in Historic Cairo as well as suggests a proposal schema in order to treat degraded wood.

Keywords