Antioxidants to the Rescue
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
(image from IDAP)Thousands of historical documents are rotting to pieces in archives, and until now, historians have been powerless to preserve the priceless parchments.
Oxidation is slowly destroying thousands of documents in collections around the globe thanks to iron gall inks, popular from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, but with recipes dating back to the Dead Sea scrolls. Oxidation continues in a chain reaction until it encounters a chain-breaking molecule -- known as antioxidants or "radical scavengers" -- such as beta-carotene, vitamin C or vitamin E.
Most well-known antioxidants are not suitable for document preservation because they can leave behind permanent discoloration.
But now conservationists are buzzing about a new technique developed by Ink Cor, a research group concerned with neutralizing the wasting effect of corrosive inks without damaging the underlying paper.
Ink Cor's breakthrough is the discovery of a colorless antioxidant (halide salts) that can prolong the life span of paper containing corrosive ink by a factor of 10. This could lead to new noninvasive treatments for priceless original works by masters from da Vinci to Bach.
Full article at Wired News.
