| Abstract: | SUMMARIES. With the beginning of industrial paper production more than 150 years ago and the acidic sizing connected with it, acids were brought into paper. These acids cause the catalytic degradation of cellulose. Since cellulose is responsible for the mechanical stability of paper, it becomes brittle with the progress of the cellulose degradation. This process is auto-catalytic, i. e. the degradation process furthers the formation of new acids and thus, the reaction accelerates itself. The degradation process can be stopped effectively by neutralisation and the insertion of an alkaline buffer, but it cannot be reversed. In the later stages of the degradation process other restoration methods become necessary (e. g. paper splitting) in order to make the paper usable again. This means: the earlier acid degradation is stopped, the easier and cheaper the treatment becomes. |
|---|
