SILVER-MIRRORING EDGE PATTERNS: DIFFUSION-REACTION MODELS FOR
THE FORMATION OF SILVER MIRRORING ON SILVER GELATIN GLASS PLATES
GIOVANNA DI PIETRO, & FRANK LIGTERINK 2 PRESENT KNOWLEDGE OF
SILVER MIRRORING Since the first accounts of silver mirroring on
bromide negatives and prints, the origin of this type of
degradation was proposed to be connected with the reaction of
atmospheric gases such as hydrogen sulfide with silver compounds
in the emulsion (British Journal of Photography 1901). Deeper
investigations into the nature of the gases and into the
mechanism leading to silver mirroring were carried out in the
1960s (Henn and Wiest 1963). These studies were spurred by the
discovery of red spots on negative microfilms correlated to the
presence of silver mirroring. Peroxides or atmospheric oxygen in
combination with hydrogen sulfide were indicated as gases
responsible for silver mirroring. Later, in the 1980s, Hendriks
(1989) collected their results, together with the model proposed
by research studies at Fuji