Comparison of aging characteristics of the duplicated beeswax-treated and non-treated paper books during artificial thermal aging

[Display omitted] •This study performed a fundamental investigation to understand the aged mechanism of beeswax-treated paper cultural heritages.•It was done through artificial aging test of the duplicated beeswax-treated volume and non-treated volume.•The predominant pathway of deterioration of the beeswax-treated volume was submitted. Changes in mechanical and optical properties of the duplicated beeswax-treated and non-treated Hanji volumes during artificial aging were examined, and the VOCs emitted from the samples were analyzed using a GC/MS. In results, the decrease in mechanical and optical properties of the beeswax-treated volume during aging was approximately 2.5 times higher than that of non-treated volume. The quality and quantity of the VOCs emitted from the beeswax-treated volume were also greater than those from the non-treated volume. Especially, the amount of acetic acid from beeswax-treated volume after 90 days of aging was 20 times greater than that of non-treated volume.