Efficiency and durability of protective treatments on cultural heritage copper corrosion layers

Emilande Apchain (1, 2, 3) , Delphine D. Neff (1, 2) , Jean-Paul Gallien (1, 2) , Nicolas Nuns (4) , Pascal Berger (5) , Albert Noumowé (3) , Philippe Dillmann (1, 2)

1 LAPA - UMR 3685 - Laboratoire Archéomatériaux et Prévision de l'Altération
2 IRAMAT - Institut de Recherches sur les Archéomatériaux
3 L2MGC - Laboratoire de mécanique et matériaux du génie civil
4 IMEC - Institut Michel Eugène Chevreul - FR 2638
5 LEEL - UMR 3685 - Laboratoire d'Etudes des Eléments Légers

To protect copper artefacts of the cultural heritage from atmospheric degradation protective treatment must be applied. Two types of protective treatments: microcrystalline wax (Cosmolloïd wax) and decanoate solution (HC10) were tested. Two aspects were considered: the penetration of the treatments in the corrosion layers, and its durability. Equivalent efficiencies for both treatments were demonstrated. The penetration of the treatments seems to depend essentially on its application mode. Re-corrosion experiments of treated samples under immersion in D2O demonstrate that the efficiency and the durability with time or after water leaching depend on the penetration of the treatments in the corrosion layers.

Mots clés: copper; copper alloys; atmospheric corrosion; protective treatments; microcrystalline wax; decanoate solution

Domaines: Matériaux

Emilande Apchain, Delphine D. Neff, Jean-Paul Gallien, Nicolas Nuns, Pascal Berger, et al.. Efficiency and durability of protective treatments on cultural heritage copper corrosion layers. Corrosion Science, 2021, 183, pp.109319. ⟨10.1016/j.corsci.2021.109319⟩. ⟨cea-03159604⟩