Routine physico-chemical quality control in the papersave swiss process takes place according to defined quality standards. Measurements on test books as well as on original material are carried out non-destructively and show homogenous and complete treatment with regard to the accumulated alkali quantity and distribution over the sheet surface. Treatment intensities can be varied and are adapted to the material. The influence of treatment intensity on the efficacy of deacidification was examined. The selected treatment concentrations for the archive and library program leads to an average efficacy coefficient of four. Taking the advantages and disadvantages into consideration, higher or lower treatment intensities are not to be recommended.

Starting from commercially available ammonium dinitramide (ADN), which was dissolved either in water or in methanol, the sodium, potassium, rubidium and cesium dinitramide were synthesized in yields > 70 % by adding the corresponding alkali metal hydroxide. The basic equation for the reaction is the following: NH4N(NO2)(2) + MOH -> MN(NO2)(2) + H2O + NH3 M = Na, K, Rb, Cs The crystallization was carried out of a highly concentrated water solution or of methanol. The procedure of a crystallization out of a water solution was not applicable for the very hygroscopic NaN(NO2)(2) compound. It could only be crystallized by using the freeze-drying method. ne dinitramide salts were characterized by determing the melting point, by elemental analysis, by Differential-Scanning-Calorimetry (DSC), Thermal-Gravimetry-Analysis (TGA), IR-Spectroscopy and by light microscopical investigations of the crystal shape. The results are in good agreement with the values mentioned in literature. However the DSC and TGA measurements show some significant differences to already published results. The X-ray structure analysis of RbN(NO2)(2) shows an isomorphic structure in comparison to CsN(NO2)(2).

Mass deacidification is the only possibility to preserve large stocks of written cultural heritage in the original form. In the last 4 years of service 350 tons of books and archival material were deacidified in the papersave swiss plant in Wimmis; thus conserved for future generations. Thorough initial experiments showed that the papersave swiss treatment can be operated reproducibly – all documents are deacidified homogeneously in all three dimensions of space. The lifetime of the documents is increased by at least a factor of 4 through the treatment. Almost a 100 % of the information has been conserved in the