Nancy Bittner

Abstract

Archivists, conservators and librarians are concerned with paper permanence. Tests have shown that paper permanence is affected by light (especially ultra violet), temperature and humidity changes, acidity, in sects and rodents, and by general use. Environmental damages are often insidious. The objective of this study is to find whether ultraviolet curing and evaporative drying as experienced in the printing industry would affect paper permanence. Glen G. Gray's procedure for finding the reaction rate (the rate at which chemical reactions are completed) of paper is followed. This method relies on the fact that a chemical reaction occurs at speeds which depend on the molecules present and their levels of excitation. Gray compared this method to TAPPI Standard 453, concluding that the single-temperature TAPPI standard is not a reliable permanence test to compare papers with different activation energies. In Gray's multi-temperature procedure, plots of reaction rates at several temperatures are computed through the Arrhenius equation. The Arrhenius equation relates reaction rate and temperature. The findings of this study showed a positive correlation between an increase in aging-oven temperature and a loss of folding endurance. The evaporative drying group consistently endured fewer folds than the ultraviolet-cured group although this does not clearly indicate that heat is more damaging than ultraviolet light. In conclusion, the evaporative drying and ultraviolet curing techniques at the levels presently used in this study were found not to be harmful to the paper tested.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Paper--Deterioration--Testing; Paper--Drying; Paper--Testing

Publication Date

5-1-1983

Document Type

Thesis

Department, Program, or Center

School of Media Sciences (CIAS)

Advisor

Brown, Joseph

Comments

Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works. Physical copy available through RIT's The Wallace Library at: TS1109.B57 1983

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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