Chemical aspects of the bookkeeper deacidification of cellulosic materials:: The influence of surfactants

Despite its widespread use in paper deacidification, neither the exact composition of the Bookkeeper reagent nor its time-dependent chemistry are known in sufficient detail. For this reason, our laboratory characterized Bookkeeper reagents by x-ray powder diffraction, micro-infrared spectrometry, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry and polarized light microscopy. The results clearly show that the fluorinated dispersants contained in the reagent have a decisive influence on the reaction kinetics and probably also on the chemical species forming the alkaline reserve.