March 3, 2025

Zorbix, a thin superabsorbant sheet material designed to dry water-damaged books and documents was developed by Nicholas Yeager and Kate Hayes in 2003.

Kate was a research scientist at the National Agricultural Library when she conceived of a laminar sheet material that safely encapsulated a corn-starch based superabsorbent material called Super Slurper. They entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture in 2003. Yeager's company, Artifex Equipment used funds from an SBIR grant to prove feasibility of the technology and began developing the method of manufacture while applying for a patent. He raised investment funds, defended the patent application, and developed a method of manufacture that provided sheets of Zorbix to libraries and archive conservation labs.

In 2019, production and sales of Zorbix ended with the hope of a new owner taking it on. That avenue hasn't born fruit. Today,  a CC BY-SA 4.0 has been registered to make public the methods of manufacture, logo, graphics, and material not in the public domain.

As of today, you are invited to learn how to make and use Zorbix for your personal (or institutional) use. This blog will describe the process of development of Zorbix.

In addition to Kate Hayes for having the inspirational moment that led to the development, I'd like to thank the Part-Time Genius podcasters, Will Pearson, Mangesh Hattikudur, and especially Mary Phillips-Sandy for showing an interest in Zorbix and featuring it on their podcast. There are dozens of others that I will thank in future posts, but I'm keeping it brief for the moment.

I've started a Discord, YouTube channel, and IG account if you want to follow along on those platforms.

Zorbix, a superabsorbent sheet to dry water-damaged porous mateial; controlled humidification of paper or porous materials © 2003 by  Nicholas G. Yeager, Kate Hayes is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0