Lecture on Offgassing

Lecture

"Off-Gassing in Non-Museum Quality Exhibit Cases: Testing the
    Sealing of Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) to Prevent Corrosive
    Emissions"
Princeton Preservation Group Meeting
Pane Room, Alexander Library
College Avenue
Rutgers University
New Brunswick
August 21, 2014, 4pm

Speaker: Rachel Greenberg

This presentation will discuss the analytical testing of sealing
materials for Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) to prevent corrosive
emissions in display cases.  The project is based on research
conducted by David Thickett that determined the suitability of
manufactured barrier films and liquid coatings through accelerated
corrosion testing.  Manufactured films performed best; however,
liquid coatings are often preferred for their pragmatic qualities.
The best performing liquid coating is no longer available, which
initiated the current project to test the second best liquid coating
material: Dacrylate.  The number of coats and drying time required
to limit volatile emissions was under analysis through accelerated
corrosion testing.  The standardized accelerated corrosion testing
method successfully tested the sealing materials and the MDF
individually, but proved problematic for testing the sealing
efficiency of the materials once applied to the MDF.  The testing
methodology had to be revised, and came under analysis alongside the
material application, resulting in the goals of the project changing
to include determining the most appropriate methodology for testing
sealed MDF.  This presentation will look at the significance of
accelerated corrosion testing and its application in Thickett's
research on testing MDF sealants, and will then compare Thickett's
results to those discovered in the current project in the hope of
understanding the sealing effectiveness of Dacrylate and the
effectiveness of the testing method.  The research conducted will
hopefully create the awareness needed to question the current
preventive conservation practice for display cases, and perhaps make
the complications of MDF more appreciated.

About the Speaker:  Rachel Greenberg recently returned to New Jersey
from graduate training at the University College London, Institute
of Archaeology, where she earned three masters degrees in
Conservation for Archaeology and Museums, Principles of
Conservation, and Classical Art and Archaeology, and interned at the
British Museum.

This program is open to the public, RSVP requested: Tim Corlis,
tcorlis<-a t->rutgers< . >edu or 848-932-6146.

Gary D. Saretzky, Archivist
Monmouth County Archives
125 Symmes Drive
Manalapan NJ 07726
732-308-3771 ext 5
Monmouth County Archives


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 28:9
                 Distributed: Saturday, August 2, 2014
                        Message Id: cdl-28-9-004
                                  ***