Stewing in Its Own Juices? The Permeability of PET by Water and Acetic Acid
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Molly K. McGath
Molly McGath , PhD is an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral research fellow within the Heritage Science for Conservation Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. She holds a materials science and engineering doctoral degree and an organic chemistry masters degree from the University of Arizona. Her scientific interests include the chemistry of polymeric materials like cellulose which are found in archives, libraries and museums, as well as monitoring and evaluating the effects of chemicals within an object’s environment.Andrea Hall is Senior Research Specialist at Heritage Science for Conservation in the Department of Conservation and Preservation at Johns Hopkins University where she is working on physical property testing of heritage materials, environmental monitoring, studying conservation testing and treatment methods, and material deterioration. Hall has a background as a conservation specialist and a materials scientist. She received her Masters of Science in Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2016. Hall obtained her Bachelor of Science in biology at Bowling Green State University, and studied the conservation of art and artifacts at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy.Sara Zaccaron , PhD is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Division of Chemistry of Renewable Resources at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna. She was formerly an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral research fellow at the Heritage Science for Conservation, Johns Hopkins University. Zaccaron got her PhD in chemistry and the master degree in conservation science from Ca’ Foscari University, Venice (Italy). Her research interests deal with a broad variety of topics related to natural polymers, from pulp and paper industry to cultural heritage, with a particular focus on analytics, mechanisms and kinetics of material degradation.Jay Wallace holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. His day job involves fracture mechanics and stress corrosion cracking of ceramic and metallic materials.William “Bill” Minter is currently senior book conservator for The Pennsylvania State University Libraries. Previously, he worked with the post-doctoral fellows and researchers in the Heritage Science for Conservation project at Johns Hopkins University. And during this time, he has maintained a private-practice book conservation business in Woodbury, Pennsylvania. Bill has always been interested in the science of book conservation.Patricia McGuiggan obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. During her Ph.D., she was a research scholar in the Applied Mathematics Department at the Australian National University. She spent 3 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara with Professor Jacob Israelachvili. She has worked at 3 M, W.L. Gore & Associates, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She is currently an associate research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and is P.I. of the Heritage Science for Conservation Program in the Department of Conservation and Preservation at JHU. Her research focuses on the measurement of material properties at the nanoscale.
Abstract
Historic documents are frequently protected by placing them in a sealed polyethylene-terephthalate (PET) envelope. Although the paper is mechanically stabilized, the PET film may limit transmission of moisture or acidic degradation by-products of the paper. This creates a microenvironment for the encapsulated document. The permeation of water and acetic acid vapor through the PET film was measured to understand the microenvironment within an encapsulated enclosure. For encapsulation with a 102 μm (4 mil) PET film, the water vapor mass flux through the encapsulated film was measured. The water vapor was found to flow into or out of the PET film depending on the sample and environmental conditions. Because the encapsulated paper needed a longer time to dry than paper in open air, PET encapsulation provides a microenvironment that will buffer the encapsulated object from large swings in humidity. Acetic acid either did not diffuse through the PET, or it diffused at such a slow rate as to not be measured, due to the larger size of the acetic acid molecule than the water molecule. Keeping one edge of an encapsulation open allowed a drying rate that was four times faster than when all four sides were sealed. Because acetic acid vapor does not readily diffuse through the PET, these results reinforce the recommendations for deacidification and/or addition of buffering agents to the paper or enclosure. The results of this study point to a critical need for the investigation of new materials in conjunction with further evaluation of currently used materials.
Zusammenfassung
Im eigenen Saft schmoren? Die Permeabilität von PET Folien für Wasser und Essigsäure.
Historische Dokumente werden oft geschützt, indem sie in Umschlägen aus verschweißten Polyethylenterephthalat Folien (PET) aufbewahrt werden. In dieser Studie wurde die Permeation von Wasser- und Essigsäuredämpfen durch diese Folien gemessen, um die Umgebungsbedingungen der so aufbewahrten Dokumente besser zu verstehen. Für eine 102 µm PET Folie betrug der Massenstrom von Wasserdampf durch den Film 1,4 x 10-9 g Dampfverlust/cm2/s. Der Wasserdampf strömte dabei – je nach Probematerial und Umweltbedingungen – sowohl in die PET Folie hinein als auch aus der PET Folie heraus. Da Papier, das in einem Folienumschlag aufbewahrt wird, längere Trocknungszeiten aufweist als Papier, das an der Luft getrocknet wird, kann ein Umschlag aus PET Folie ein Mikroklima herstellen, das Objekte vor stärkeren Klimaschwankungen schützt. Essigsäure diffundierte aufgrund der größeren Essigsäure-Moleküle entweder nicht oder nur so langsam durch PET Folie, dass die Diffusion nicht messbar war. Wenn eine Seite des Folienumschlages nicht verschweißt wird, ist die Trocknungsrate viermal so schnell wie bei an allen Seiten versiegelten Umschlägen.
Résumé
Mariner dans son jus? La perméabilité du polyéthylène téréphtalate (PET) à l’eau et à l’acide acétique
Les documents historiques sont souvent protégés en étant encapsulés dans une enveloppe en PET. L’infiltration à la vapeur d’eau et d’acide acétique à travers le film de PET a été mesurée pour comprendre le micro-environnement d’un matériau encapsulé. Si pour l’encapsulation, on utilise un film de PET de 102 µm, le flux maximum de vapeur d’eau mesuré à travers le film est de 1,4 x 10-9 g d’évaporation/cm2/s. La vapeur d’eau rentre et sort du film de PET à un rythme qui dépend de l’échantillon et des conditions environnementales. Comme le papier encapsulé a besoin de plus de temps pour sécher que le papier à l’air libre, l’encapsulation dans un film de PET engendre un micro-environnement qui tamponne et protège l’objet encapsulé face à des variations d’humidité. L’acide acétique quant à lui ne s’est pas diffusé à travers le PET ou à un taux si faible, qu’il ne peut pas être mesuré car la molécule d’acide acétique est plus grande que celle de l’eau. En laissant un côté de l’encapsulation ouverte, le taux de séchage a été quatre fois plus rapide que lorsque tous les côtés ont été scellés.
Funding statement: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, (Grant/Award Number: ‘Heritage Science for Conservation’)
About the authors
Molly McGath, PhD is an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral research fellow within the Heritage Science for Conservation Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. She holds a materials science and engineering doctoral degree and an organic chemistry masters degree from the University of Arizona. Her scientific interests include the chemistry of polymeric materials like cellulose which are found in archives, libraries and museums, as well as monitoring and evaluating the effects of chemicals within an object’s environment.
Andrea Hall is Senior Research Specialist at Heritage Science for Conservation in the Department of Conservation and Preservation at Johns Hopkins University where she is working on physical property testing of heritage materials, environmental monitoring, studying conservation testing and treatment methods, and material deterioration. Hall has a background as a conservation specialist and a materials scientist. She received her Masters of Science in Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2016. Hall obtained her Bachelor of Science in biology at Bowling Green State University, and studied the conservation of art and artifacts at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy.
Sara Zaccaron, PhD is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Division of Chemistry of Renewable Resources at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna. She was formerly an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral research fellow at the Heritage Science for Conservation, Johns Hopkins University. Zaccaron got her PhD in chemistry and the master degree in conservation science from Ca’ Foscari University, Venice (Italy). Her research interests deal with a broad variety of topics related to natural polymers, from pulp and paper industry to cultural heritage, with a particular focus on analytics, mechanisms and kinetics of material degradation.
Jay Wallace holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. His day job involves fracture mechanics and stress corrosion cracking of ceramic and metallic materials.
William “Bill” Minter is currently senior book conservator for The Pennsylvania State University Libraries. Previously, he worked with the post-doctoral fellows and researchers in the Heritage Science for Conservation project at Johns Hopkins University. And during this time, he has maintained a private-practice book conservation business in Woodbury, Pennsylvania. Bill has always been interested in the science of book conservation.
Patricia McGuiggan obtained her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. During her Ph.D., she was a research scholar in the Applied Mathematics Department at the Australian National University. She spent 3 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara with Professor Jacob Israelachvili. She has worked at 3 M, W.L. Gore & Associates, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. She is currently an associate research professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and is P.I. of the Heritage Science for Conservation Program in the Department of Conservation and Preservation at JHU. Her research focuses on the measurement of material properties at the nanoscale.
Acknowledgements
We thank Don McClure for discussions of PET and Lena Warren for showing us how to use the encapsulator. We also thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for funding this research.
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© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Analysis of Deterioration Phenomena in a Koran by Nineteenth Century Ottoman Calligrapher Mehmed Şevki
- Stewing in Its Own Juices? The Permeability of PET by Water and Acetic Acid
- Four Step Strategy for Implementing IPM in Libraries in Sri Lanka
- Erratum
- Erratum to: Evaluation of Alkaline Compounds Used for Deacidification and Simultaneous Lining of Extremely Degraded Manuscripts
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Analysis of Deterioration Phenomena in a Koran by Nineteenth Century Ottoman Calligrapher Mehmed Şevki
- Stewing in Its Own Juices? The Permeability of PET by Water and Acetic Acid
- Four Step Strategy for Implementing IPM in Libraries in Sri Lanka
- Erratum
- Erratum to: Evaluation of Alkaline Compounds Used for Deacidification and Simultaneous Lining of Extremely Degraded Manuscripts
