Degradation Caused by Cellulose Diacetate: Analysis and Proposals for Conservation Treatment
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English Slovak |
| ISSN: | ISSN 0034-5806 |
| Online Access: | http://www.viks.sk/chk/res_2_96_130_143.doc |
| Abstract: | Conclusions. The choice of rehousing the Pelliot Collection should be governed by consideration of whether it is possible or not to extract the acids and salts from the documents. It must be kept in mind that there will still be a risk that these products will continue to be active and harmful. Among the various treatments possible, ethanol might be tried in order to eliminate the plasticizer residues and increase the penetration of the water which could then be used afterwards to remove the salts. Blotters, cotton or poultices soaked with ethanol or water and applied to the surface of the papers might be an efficient method if we first checked that the pressure would not damage the inks. The suction table might be also useful but care should be taken because the pressure could cause a bleeding of the inks from the surface of the document that was applied against the blotter or filter paper. All these methods will be tested in the conservation laboratory and checked by analysis. At present, the two thousand fragments to be rehoused are being gradually removed from the Rhodoi'd, placed in acid-free buffered paper folders and stored in temporary preservation boxes. A research programme is in progress and each document is submitted to an examination. The results are put into a data base that has been built up (the software used is ACCESS). These data will facilitate the construction of a conservation programme for the entire collection. Summaries. For many years cellulose acetate has been considered to be a stable long-term polymer. It has been used widely as a base for cinema film and also as archival material for encapsulating fragile paper. This material has now been proved to be highly unstable, breaking down and releasing acetic acid and plasticizer. From 1950 to 1975 at the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, cellulose acetate was used to encapsulate thousands of documents and fragments in the oriental manuscript collection. Now all these documents have to be removed from this material. This article gives a short description of the production of cellulose acetate and its properties and then presents the results of analyses performed on materials previously used at the Bibliotheque Nationale. Consideration is then given to the most appropriate measures for saving the documents, most of which are badly damaged. Finally there is a discussion on the encapsulation of fragile and valuable documents. |
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| ISSN: | ISSN 0034-5806 |
