Whitening of polyvinyl alcohol used as restoration material for Shohekiga

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which has been used to prevent flaking of paint pigments on traditional Japanese Shohekiga, became white and we investigated its phenomenon. The surface of whitened PVA was irregular and rugged, and many micrometer size cracks were observed. This suggests that efficient scattering of all visible region light from the cracks causes whitening. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements revealed that interchain dehydration and chemical crosslinking (C–O ether linkage) occurred on the surface of whitened PVA.