Proces starzenia się polimerów w aspekcie stosowania ich w konserwacji zabytków

The most important chemical processes that take place during the a gein g of polymer materials have been presented in this article. A particular emphasis has been put on processes of photodegradation, photooxidation and biodegradation. The author has described photostabilizers, antioxidants and biocides used nowadays to extend life of synthetic materials. The mode of action of such photostabilizers and a n tioxidants as Tinuvin P, Advastab-45, U VlN UL -N-5 39 , C Y A - SO BR-UV-1 084 , of H A L S type, Tinuvin-770, BHT, thioesters and organic phosphites has been presented. The agents that stabilize synthetic materials used as additives have a limited time of action due to evaporation, sublimation and leaching. The most effective method of eliminating these phenomena and thus prolonging time of material’s utilization is to bond a stabilizing agent to a polymer's chain. Stabilizers which can be bond into a polymer forming the so-called functional polymers have been presented. They include monomeric photostabilizers such as Permasorb MA, compounds developed by O. Vogl et al. as well as vinyl derivatives of BHT. At the same time functional polymers formed by attaching into a polymer chain of particles such biocides as pentachlorophenol or tributyltine compounds may be components of conservation preparations with prolonged activity. It has been suggested that detailed studies should be made on the use of such agents to protect historic structures against biological corrosion.