Hygroscopic Behavior of Paper and Books

Abstract

This study presents experimental analysis and numerical modeling of hygroscopic moisture buffering by paper and books. First, a literature review of moisture transport properties of paper is presented. Experimental work on two paper types includes SEM analysis of the paper structure, determination of sorption isotherms and water vapor permeability measurements. A hysteretic model for paper is presented, which is based on the measurement of the main adsorption and desorption curves. It is shown that the water vapor permeability in a hysteretic model is dependent on the moisture content and not on the relative humidity. Books consist of several paper sheets with air layers between the sheets. To take the air layers into account, a parallel transport model is proposed to determine the effective moisture transport properties of books taking into account the air layers. The dynamic hygroscopic behavior of small book samples was measured. It is shown that, although the water vapor permeability of different paper types can be quite different, the effusivity of a book highly depends on the presence of the air layers and can therefore remain comparable for different paper types.