The elimination of hypo from photographic images

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to remove the last traces of hypo from photographic papers by any known procedure of washing. The sulfur in the residual hypo ultimately, and especially under abnormal conditions of temperature and humidity, combines with the silver image to form yellowish brown silver sulfide. This phenomenon is known as sulfiding or “fading” of the image. The various factors which affect the rate of fading of images and the washing out of hypo from films and papers are outlined.Chemical methods of hypo elimination have been proposed from time to time but the majority of these have not been satisfactory because they tend to leave substances such as thionates in the photographic material, which are equally as difficult to wash out as hypo and which also tend to sulfide or fade the silver image. A new hypo eliminator is recommended consisting of two volatile chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. This eliminator oxidizes the hypo to sodium sulfate, which is inert and soluble in water, while any excess eliminator evaporates on drying.Two formulas and treatments are proposed: (1) Complete elimination of hypo for use by the professional, advanced amateur, and photofinisher who demand the highest standard of photographic quality in their prints.(2) Almost complete elimination of hypo (less than o.oi milligram per square inch).Since the conditions to which prints will be subjected are rarely known in advance, use of the “complete elimination treatment” is advised in all cases.     

The blackening of photographic plates by positive ions of the alkali metals

A short review is included of previous work on the blackening of photographic plates by positive rays and rays of an analogous nature.The blackening of Eastman x-ray plates, by positive ions, has been measured as a function of the energy of the ions of Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs. The energy of the ions required to produce a photographic density of D = 0.3 with a one minute exposure at a current density of 1.32 × 10^?8 amperes per cm.² ranged from 1420 electron-volts in the case of cæsium to 860 electron-volts in the case of Li⁷. Approximately 10⁵ ions are required at these energies to render developable one silver-halide grain. For a threshold density, D = 0.04, under the same conditions the energy ranged from approximately 920 to 460 electron-volts for Cs and Li⁷ respectively.Sensitivity comparisons were made between x-ray plates and process and schumannized process plates. Potassium ions with an energy as low as 137 electron-volts were recorded on Schumann plates, and it is possible that positive ions of one-third this energy can be recorded.