Reinforcement of vulnerable historic silk fabrics with bacterial cellulose film and its light aging behavior

Bacterial cellulose film was used to reinforce the vulnerable historic silk fabrics as a degradable restoration material, instead of the traditionally used synthetic polymers, for the purpose of storage and display. Both historic silk samples and artificial aged (ultraviolet and ozone aging) silk samples were restored with BC. BC restored samples were also artificial aged to investigate the degradation behavior of BC on silk fabrics. The effect of BC reinforcement and the status of BC on the surface of the silk fibers before and after artificial aging were investigated by SEM, ATR-FTIR, XRD, TG and tensile tests. The results showed that crystallinity, thermal stability and tensile strength (increased by 213%) of the silk samples were improved by BC restoration and BC could be degraded with little damage to silk fibers. This work suggests that BC is a promising material for restoration of vulnerable silk fabrics and other such reinforcement applications.