Chinese archaeological artefacts: Microstructure and corrosion behaviour of high-leaded bronzes |
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| Institution: | 1. Laboratório de Instrumentação, Engenharia Biomédica e Fisica da Radiação (LIBPhys-UNL), Departamento de Fisica, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Monte da Caparica, Portugal;2. Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa, Largo da Academia Nacional de Belas-Artes, 1249-058 Lisboa, Portugal;3. Hercules Laboratory, University of Évora, Palácio do Vimioso,Largo Marquês de Marialva 8, 7000-809 Évora Portugal;4. Laboratory of X-ray Analytical Applications, Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, CSIC, Solé Sabaris s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain;5. Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal;6. BioISI — Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal;7. Department of Political Science and Communication, University of Sassari, Via Piandanna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Metallographic features of ancient bronze artefacts often hide peculiar micro-chemical processes and corrosion behaviours, which are worth to be studied as they can provide conservators and archaeologists with valuable tools and information. It is widely documented that Chinese bronzes were cast and the way to adjust their properties was to change the alloy composition. In particular, addition of lead, which is insoluble in the bronze matrix, results in the formation of inclusions or globules, which undergo oxidation processes leading to their conversion into corrosion products. The mechanisms through which this occurs were still poorly investigated. The present work was conducted to further study the corrosion behaviour of high-leaded bronze, especially focusing on the behaviour of lead globules. To this aim, a collection of Chinese archaeological bronzes, showing intermediate steps of degradation, were selected and investigated. The use of combined microscopy-based, molecular and elemental, analytical techniques allowed the characterization as well as the precise location of corrosion products, thus enabling us to propose a degradation pathway basing on thermodynamic data provided by Pourbaix diagram. The achieved results will be useful for researchers involved in these kinds of studies to better interpret data obtained. |
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| Keywords: | High-leaded bronze Lead globules corrosion Scanning electron microscopy μRaman spectroscopy Pourbaix diagrams |
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