Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Stabilization Methods Treatments by Deacidification, Trehalose, Phytates on Iron Gall Inks
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English German French |
| ISSN: | 0034-5806 |
| Online Access: | http://www.viks.sk/chk/res_1_05_36_43.doc |
| Abstract: | SUMMARY. Samples of pure cellulose paper (Watman no. 1) were submerged in diluted iron gall ink of a "standard" recipe then treated with aqueous solutions of chemicals that are supposed to inhibit ink corrosion: phytate as a chelating agent to block iron ions, trehalose as an antioxidant and calcium bicarbonate as a deacidification agent. Parameters to evaluate the result were degree of polymerisation and pH. It was found that the combination of chelating agent and/or antioxidant was most effective, while deacidification and antioxidant alone did not give sufficient results. Generally, it is stated that the great variety of iron gall ink recipes and the even greater degree of ink corrosion to be found in historic manuscripts make it nearly impossible to describe exactly in scientific terms, the real state of decay CONCLUSION. The conclusions that can be drawn from the facts reported above are that: It is very difficult to analyse iron gall inks. Neither mechanical nor chemical methods are able to give an exact idea of the real state of inked paper deg- radation. The great variety of iron gall inks found in original manuscripts is not reproducible in a laboratory. Therefore, all the results presented here only give an indication of trends of how iron gall ink can react towards different conservation treatments.The most effective treatment to decrease the degradation of the cellulose is by using a chelating agent such as calcium and ammonia phytate, together with an antioxidant such as trehalose and a deacidification agent such as calcium bicarbonate. This kind of treatment needs further study, particularly on an historical manuscript |
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| ISSN: | 0034-5806 |
