An Essential Role of Gelatin in the Formation Process of Curling in Long Historical Photos

Curling disease in long historical photos significantly affects the presentation of cultural heritage information. However, people lack attention to the formation process and microstructural changes of photo curling. In this article, a long historical photo (1912–1949 AD) collected by the Second Historical Archives of China was taken as the research object, and the formation process and cause of the curling were further explored. Firstly, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray energy disperse spectrometer (EDS), and other instruments were used to analyze the material composition of the long historical photo. It was found that the photographic paper was made of gelatin, barium sulfate, and plant fiber layers. Then, the effects of hygrothermal environments on curling and contraction in the gelatin layer and simulated photographic paper were explored. Meanwhile, the formation process and main influence factors of the curling were preliminarily revealed. The morphological analysis by SEM was carried out to identify the inner correlation between the microstructure and curling of photos. Finally, the possible formation cause of photo curling was analyzed. This study provides a scientific basis and experimental data for the preservation and restoration of long historical photos based on gelatin.

Photograph Paper Sample Books : A Reference Collection and Web Presentation At George Eastman House

This thesis proposes a model for the cataloging, evaluation, and description of photographic paper sample books in the George Eastman House collection. The model is implemented as a reference resource on Notes - on Photographs, a collaborative website in development at George Eastman House with the support of a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Notes - on Photographs is built on a wiki platform, which is characterized by capabilities for dynamic updating and collaborative editing by a group of users. The model implemented to describe the contents of the paper sample books utilizes these capabilities to further enrich the information resource. Manufacturer paper sample books are invaluable resources in developing a better understanding of the materials of photography; they reveal the evolution of the dominant image-making support for over a century of silver halide photography. This project seeks to do a better job of explaining what they are, why they are valuable, and of promoting a standardized language to facilitate description and communication among professionals engaged in the care, display, and study of photographs. The ability to articulate the technological and material aspects of any medium contributes to better discernment and has implications for establishing authenticity, being conscious of an image maker's aesthetic decisions, dating works, and for understanding the condition and preservation of the object. In most cases photographic paper sample books in the George Eastman House collection are undated, and catalogue records treat the books as single entries rather than complex bound material where each sample has unique characteristics. The work accomplished in this thesis will inform and enrich the object information in the current cataloging system, The Museum System (TMS) at George Eastman House.

Photograph Paper Sample Books : A Reference Collection and Web Presentation At George Eastman House

This thesis proposes a model for the cataloging, evaluation, and description of photographic paper sample books in the George Eastman House collection. The model is implemented as a reference resource on Notes - on Photographs, a collaborative website in development at George Eastman House with the support of a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Notes - on Photographs is built on a wiki platform, which is characterized by capabilities for dynamic updating and collaborative editing by a group of users. The model implemented to describe the contents of the paper sample books utilizes these capabilities to further enrich the information resource. Manufacturer paper sample books are invaluable resources in developing a better understanding of the materials of photography; they reveal the evolution of the dominant image-making support for over a century of silver halide photography. This project seeks to do a better job of explaining what they are, why they are valuable, and of promoting a standardized language to facilitate description and communication among professionals engaged in the care, display, and study of photographs. The ability to articulate the technological and material aspects of any medium contributes to better discernment and has implications for establishing authenticity, being conscious of an image maker's aesthetic decisions, dating works, and for understanding the condition and preservation of the object. In most cases photographic paper sample books in the George Eastman House collection are undated, and catalogue records treat the books as single entries rather than complex bound material where each sample has unique characteristics. The work accomplished in this thesis will inform and enrich the object information in the current cataloging system, The Museum System (TMS) at George Eastman House.

Reactive Conductive Ink Capable of In Situ and Rapid Synthesis of Conductive Patterns Suitable for Inkjet Printing

We report a fabrication method of the conductive pattern based on in situ reactive silver precursor inks by inkjet printing. The reactive silver precursor inks were prepared with ethylene glycol and deionized water mixture as the solvent, and silver nitrate as silver source. Sodium borohydride solution as the reducing agent was first coated on photographic paper by screen printing process, and then dried at 50 °C for 4 h. Furthermore, the reactive silver precursor inks were printed on a photographic paper coated with sodium borohydride using inkjet printing to form silver nanoparticles in situ due to redox reaction, and thus a conductive pattern was obtained. The effects of the reactive silver precursor ink concentration and printing layer number and treatment temperature on the electrical properties and microstructures of the printed patterns were investigated systematically. The size range of in situ-formed silver nanoparticles was 50–90 nm. When the reactive silver precursor ink concentration was 0.13 g/mL, the five-layer printed pattern exhibited a sheet resistance of 4.6 Ω/γ after drying at room temperature for 2 h; furthermore, the sheet resistance of the printed pattern decreased to 1.4 Ω/γ after drying at 130 °C for 2 h. In addition, the display function circuit was printed on the photographic paper to realize the display of the numbers 0–99. It provides new research ideas for the development of environmentally friendly and low-cost flexible paper-based circuits.

Plasma treatment of gelatin photography

Plasma pre-treatment represents the key enabler technology for microfine cleaning, surface activation and plasma coating of almost all types of materials — from plastics, metals and glasses to textiles, composites and photographs. More and more conventional industrial treatment methods are being replaced by plasma technology in order to make processes more effective and environmentally friendly. This study is oriented on the characterization of a photographic image on two types of photographic paper (glossy and matt photographic paper with a barite layer), and monitoring the effects induced by the Atmospheric Discharge with Runaway Electrons (ADRE) plasma in air atmosphere on the photographic image layers. To evaluate their long-term stability before/after plasma treatment, degradation of black and white gelatin photographic components upon accelerated light aging using Q-SUN was investigated and the photoinduced changes were recorded by FTIR spectroscopy, densitometry and colorimetry. The results obtained demonstrated that the plasma discharge had no significant destructive effect on the photographic image as only negligible changes in the structure of the gelatin were detected due to plasma processing. Consequently, it can be concluded that low-temperature ADRE plasma in air atmosphere has the potential for successful applications in microbial decontamination and purification of damaged gelatin photographs.

Silver Nanowires Inks for Flexible Circuit on Photographic Paper Substrate

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) have inspired many research interests due to their better properties in optical, electric, and flexible applications. One such exploitable use is as the electrical conductive fillers for print electronics. In this paper, AgNWs with mean a diameter of 80 nm and mean length of 13.49 μm were synthesized using the polyol solvothermal method. A sonication-induced scission process was used to obtain AgNWs with a length range of 7.64–11.21 μm. Further AgNWs inks were prepared with the as-synthesized AgNWs as conductive fillers in anhydrous ethanol. The conductive inks were coated on resin coated photographic paper substrate using the knife coating process and dried at room temperature. The effects of the number of layers of AgNWs coating, the concentration of AgNWs, and the length of AgNWs on the microstructure and electrical properties of samples were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and using the four-point probe method. The results show that the conductivity of the AgNWs coating increases with the increase in the number of layers in the AgNWs coating, concentration and length of the AgNWs.