About the Vulnerability of Photographic Materials
Degradation of Cellulose Acetate and Development of Microanalytical Tools for its Early Diagnostic
Keywords:
cellulose acetate, conservation, vinegar syndrome, Non-invasive diagnostic, HS-SPME-GC-MSAbstract
Cellulose acetate-based plastics constitute one of the most popular and conflicting materials in cultural heritage. It is not only used as support in photography and cinematography films but also as part of other cultural objects such as modern- contemporary art pieces. One of the main issues of cellulose acetate is the autocatalytic degradation characterized by the formation of acetic acid as a decomposition byproduct. This well-known phenomenon in archives is called “vinegar syndrome” and affects the support generating film contraction, deformation and exudation of plasticizers, inducing dangerous degradation reactions on surrounding materials. In this sense, the goal of this work is to contribute to the development of non-invasive and micro-invasive diagnostic tools for monitoring the stage of degradation of cellulose acetate supports. To this aim, the workflow consisted of different levels of analysis, allowing to perform a thorough material characterization followed by the elucidation of degradation mechanisms based on artificially aged samples. The experimental results from different techniques were integrated and potential markers were proposed enabling the diagnostic of the state of conservation of cultural objects made of cellulose acetate.
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