The Effect of Clove and Lavender Vapors on Silver Gelatin Prints in Wood Frames: An Analytical Study

Abstract

Photographs form an essential part of the Egyptian cultural and visual heritage for their artistic and documentary value as well as record of the history of photography. Photographs made during the last one hundred years belong to a class known as silver gelatin prints. Many photographs are a part of a housing which is designed to support and protect the artwork. Framing has been traditionally used in displaying photographic collections. Although a number of materials were used in framing, wood was the most common material used in the creation of frames in the past and many silver gelatin prints were found in their original wood frames. Among the many factors threatening the permanence of framed silver gelatin prints, fungi are certainly one of the most significant and most common, particularly in a humid climate. Many fungicides have been globally used to disinfect contaminated historic objects; however, this is definitely not the best approach. The use of such toxic chemical disinfection methods is becoming increasingly restricted mainly due to their damaging effect on the environment and human health. On this basis, the aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of both clove and lavender oils on the physical and chemical properties of framed silver gelatin prints. The oils were provided by the National Research Center (NRC) in Cairo, Egypt. Wood and photographic samples were exposed in desiccators to the selected essential oils in the vapour phase for a period of 5 days. The long-term effects of the tested disinfection treatments were studied using artificial aging. All samples were exposed to humid heat aging conditions at a temperature of 80°C and 65% RH for a period of 5 day and 10 days. Treatments were evaluated using several techniques including visual inspection, microscopic inspection, pH value measurement, colorimetric measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).