Battery acid counter balance for longevity

AI Thread Summary
A collector found an old Energiser battery labeled "Made in Britain" and sought advice on preserving the plastic film after disposing of the foaming battery. The collector planned to test the pH of the battery's residue using pH test strips and considered using a lemon solution to neutralize any alkaline effects. However, concerns were raised about potentially damaging the film with additional compounds. It was suggested to wash the film with copious amounts of tap water, followed by deionized (DI) water, which is purified water without dissolved ions. The discussion emphasized that while tap water is rarely neutral, washing with water should help remove alkaline residues without harming the film, although professional conservation methods might offer better solutions.
rovot
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I collect branded goods and came across this old Energiser battery which had been left at one of those communal recycle collection points in our local supermarket, what a find, it's the old ones that I remember from my childhood and labelled as "Made in Britain" (my God, that must have been some time ago!).

Anyway, I managed to peel off the outer logo to discard the batter as it had been foaming and wanted to know how to treat it so that it wouldn't dissolve over time. I know to keep it in an air tight container and out of direct sunlight, but I'd like to counter the effect of the Alkaline from the broken battery.

I suppose the first step would be to test this, perhaps using this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-STRIPS-ALKALINE-pH-DUAL-TEST-STRIPS-KIT-URINE-SALIVA-pH-FOR-BODY-LEVELS-/271247951352?pt=UK_Health_HealthCare_RL&hash=item3f27a345f8

Then make a solution from ..lemon? and dilute it as necessary... apply it with a cotton bud and wash it with water and it should be okay, yes?
 
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I am not convinced you will be able to stop the process without destroying the battery, but it is not clear to me what you are trying to save.

The only way of slowing the reaction is to keep the battery in as dry place as possible.
 
Battery wrapper

Sorry, I meant the branding, the film on wrapping the battery. I have since disposed of the battery itself, but wanted to preserve the film:

http://postimg.org/image/z4ifanent/


Sorry for the misunderstanding, thanks!
 
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It is some kind of plastic foil? I would just wash it with a copious amounts of tap water, perhaps followed with a wash in DI water. Any other approach means you are introducing more compounds that are not necessarily inert.
 
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Well I thought about using the pH paper to tell, but the part I test it on might not be uniform, so it could do more damage than good?

Not sure what DI water is please?
 
rovot said:
Well I thought about using the pH paper to tell, but the part I test it on might not be uniform, so it could do more damage than good?

Not sure what DI water is please?

It's also called 'deionized water', water which has all dissolved ions removed from it:

https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1743
 
As SteamKing explained, DI means deionized. It is just one of many ways of naming water that was purified by any means.

You can use pH paper to test pH of tap water in which the foil is washed, to make sure bath is neutral after wash. To be exact, it won't be exactly neutral, as tap water rarely is. Even DI water won't be neutral, it will typically have pH somewhere around 5.6 due to dissolved carbon dioxide.
 
But for my purposes it should be fine?

I'm looking to archive the plastic cover.
 
rovot said:
But for my purposes it should be fine?

I can't think of anything substantially better. Could be those professionally involved in conservation and preservation of antiques/collectibles know better ways of dealing with such a foil. I am not one of them, but I am also reasonably sure water will remove base - and the foil itself was designed to be reasonably resistant, so some water can't be dangerous.
 
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Thank for your help.
 

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