Use of sodium carbonate and sodium polyacrylate for the prevention of vinegar syndrome

ABSTRACT

To preserve archive films of which the base material is composed of cellulose acetate, we carried out screening tests on various reagents. We selected sodium carbonate and sodium polyacrylate as an acetic acid gas removing agent and a dehumidification agent, respectively. The performance of sodium carbonate per unit mass in the removal of acetic acid gas was superior to those of commercial products. The presence of sodium carbonate suppressed the increase in concentration of acetic acid gas for several months in film preservation containers. The neutralization of sodium carbonate with acetic acid gas was evaluated quantitatively. Sodium polyacrylate controlled relative humidity at around 40%RH in film preservation containers, and it was effective for film preservation. The dehumidifying performance of sodium polyacrylate compared favourably with those of commercial products. Thus, the materials tested in this study are found to be useful to avoid vinegar syndrome in cellulose acetate-based films.

KEYWORDS:

• Vinegar syndrome
• sodium carbonate
• sodium polyacrylate
• cellulose acetate film
• film preservation

Acknowledgements

This research was started based on an industry-academia collaboration programme of the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology. The authors would like to thank Prof. Keiko Takahashi for her valuable comments and Assoc. Prof. Hitoshi Yajima for providing motion picture film samples. The initial part of this work was carried out by graduates at Kanto Gakuin University, Mr. Yuuki Takanashi, Mr. Ryuuta Suzuki, Mr. Megumu Sugahara and Mr. Kazuki Asada.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Daisuke Yamamoto received the B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 2008, 2010 and 2012, respectively. Currently, he is a researcher in the Department of Conservation Science Technology in Ashigara Manufacturing Inc. His current research interests are conservation science of cultural property and analytical chemistry.

Terumitsu Ishii received the B.Eng. from Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1994, and M.S. and M.B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, U.S.A. in 2006. Currently, he is the president of Ashigara Manufacturing Inc., making film cans since 1933. He works on finding out the new way to preserve many materials.

Akira Hashimoto received the B. Eng. from Kogakuin University, Japan, in 1967. He was a director of R&D, Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, Co., Ltd., Japan. Currently, he is a researcher in the Institute of Science and Technology, Kanto Gakuin University. His current research interest is new applications of polymer materials.

Kazunori Matsui received the B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D. from The University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1975, 1977 and 1980, respectively. He is a professor in the College of Science and Engineering, Kanto Gakuin University. His current research interests are photophysics and photochemistry of organic–inorganic composite materials including nanoparticles, sol-gel glasses, and anodic porous alumina.