| Abstract: | SUMMARY. Because the degradation of paper is relatively slow, research involving the permanence of paper often requires the use of some form of accelerated aging. There are many tests that are suitable for evaluating the effects of aging. Most, however, are not suitable for determining whether the aging conditions adequately reproduce natural aging. This is because they measure properties which depend on more than one of the many reactions which take place, and cannot be used to determine if the entire process is speeded up evenly without exaggerating or minimizing the roles of individual reactions. This problem is avoided if the rates of individual reactions can be determined. This can be accomplished by quantifying the amounts of individual degradation products. Extrapolation of the results to normal aging conditions results in a distribution of degradation products expected for the range of conditions encountered during natural aging. The results of accelerated aging can be compared with this predicted mixture to see if a specific set of aging conditions adequately simulates natural aging. |
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