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larger version
Super slurper might be used to
salvage irreplaceable paper manuscripts and works, such as this watercolor of a
Vitis rubra (Michaux) grape. (Watercolor by William H. Prestele, ca. 1887-1891.
William H. Prestele Papers. Special Collections, National Agricultural Library.
300 dpi version available from Susan
Fugate, NAL. |
Absorbent Polymer Has "Thirst for
Knowledge" By Jan
Suszkiw September 22, 2003
Cupped in the palm of one's hand, Super Slurper is a nondescript
powderuntil you add water. Then, starch-based polymers in Super Slurper
"drink" the water right up, transforming the powder into a gel capable of
retaining nearly 2,000 times its weight in moisture.
Now, this same thirsty disposition could make Super Slurper
worth its weight in gold to librarians and archivists. The
Agricultural Research Service and
Artifex Equipment, Inc., of Penngrove, Calif., are collaborating on tests of
the polymer's ability to dry books, papers, photographs and other materials
soaked by water from flooding, leaks and other disasters.
Kathleen Hayes, coordinator for the
Technology Transfer Information
Center at ARS' National Agricultural Library (NAL), Beltsville, MD, thought of the idea
while attending a March 2002 workshop hosted by the
National Archives and Records
Administration. She envisioned using Super Slurper as a fast, new way to
salvage water-damaged materials, rather than air drying themwhich is
laborious and expensiveand as an alternative to vacuum freeze-drying, a
recovery process that can take months and cause collateral damage.
Artifex president Nicholas Yeager was intrigued, and conducted
preliminary tests in which Super Slurper dried several wet books in about 10
minutes. Air drying methods, by comparison, take weeksand mold growth can
begin in just 48 hours.
In August, Yeager signed a cooperative agreement with the NAL to
continue testing. Besides checking for mold inhibition, his tests aim to gauge
Super Slurper's ability to minimize other types of water damage, including
wrinkled pages and swollen book bindings that take up 20 percent more shelf
space.
Super Slurper, for its part, must not produce any stains of its
own nor mar an item's inks and pigments. J.L. Willett, a chemical engineer at
the ARS National Center for Agricultural
Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill.Super Slurper's
"birthplace"is on hand to technically advise Yeager, who may opt to
market the polymer commercially.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency. |