SBIR-STTR Award

Stored books and papers are being destroyed by acid deterioration and embrittlement at alarming rates. The 1991 "A Preservation Plan for the National Agriculture Library reports that 53% of volumes in that library are either entirely or partially deteriorated due to this process. The continual reprinting and copying that is needed to preserve documents, impacts the use of forest products. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project describes a new method to protect stored books and papers from ongoing acid deterioration and embrittlement. Unless an economical method is found to protect these resources, most will be lost or require reproduction at great cost by copying onto the paper or by reformatting. The effectiveness of alkaline materials to arrest acid deterioration of paper has been known for many years. However, these agents continue to be difficult and expensive to apply. The proposed research will develop a new concept, the infusion of protective alkaline agents into paper sheets. Results will demonstrate that a simple. effective and environmentally safe method of applying alkaline agents to deacidify paper is feasible. Initial experiments have shown a high likelihood of success. Libraries nationwide represent significant and viable outlets in need of this new technology. ANTICIPATED RESULTS & POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH Phase I work will demonstrate the feasibility of quickly infusing paper with alkaline materials that effectively stabilize it against the harmful effects of acids. The engineering principles demonstrated will lead to the development of a mass deacidification method that can be simply and inexpensively applied to the millions of papers and books that need to be preserved in their original condition for posterity. Considering current costs for deacidification, reprinting, electronic reformatting and special storage rooms to preserve manuscripts, development of this new technology will help the library and archival community save hundreds of millions of dollar annually.

The overall objective of our Phase II research program is to produce a prototype that utilizes this method to deacidify paper, and prevent ongoing, in-situ acid degradation that is rendering it unstable. The workflow can be divided into 1) Mission and 2)Technical Objectives. Mission Objectives:The Library of Congress (LOC) provided the mission objectives for a successful MD treatment in 1990 by issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) detailing five required performance criteria for an acceptable MD process. Those RFP criteria have been widely adopted and are summarized below: 1.The process must be demonstrated as effective for mass deacidification. 2.The scientific soundness and safety of the process must be substantiated throughout with supporting data. 3.The process must add to the necessary alkaline reserve, treat substrates uniformly and not cause damage to the paper or bound volumes treated. 4.The process must demonstrate satisfactory levels of quality assurance. 5.The process must provide documentation of appropriate inventory and tracking techniques for documents undergoing treatment. Potential users have added criteria, which must be met by a process that is acceptable to their preservation department or institution as summarized below: A.The process must be economically feasible for mass deacidification. B.The process should be applicable for all materials without risk of damage to bindings, paper or ink. C.The successful process must be capable of being carried out in-house by resident library personnel without the presence of extraneous hazardous chemicals or processes and without the necessity of exotic equipment or utilities.Technical Objectives:Most of the work on technical objectives will take place using a scaled-up prototype for the paper treating process. These include: 1.Development of real-scale equipment to study the application variables of the MD process as an aid in the engineering process and to assist in its commercialization. 2.Increased understanding of treatment parameters as well as the optimization of treating formulations. 3.Development and control of a method to uniformly apply treating formulation. 4.Increase in the effectiveness of the treatments. 5.Continued research into the effects of treatments on the properties of treated paper utilizing accepted physical testing protocols and Scanning Electron Microscopy with visual and energy dispersive X-Ray characterizations. The technology above includes development, integration and proof testing of necessary prototype components and sub-systems. This will supply a satisfactory device for treating of single sheets of paper.