SAVE CORROSION INHIBITORS FOR BRONZE CONSERVATION
WITH APPLICATION ON SOME SELECTED OBJECTS FROM
ANCIENT EGYPT
Mohamed M. Megahed1, Hosni. A. El-Dahan2 and Nabil. A. Abdel Ghany2*
1
Conservation Dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum Univ., Egypt
2
National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
A huge numbers of chemical compounds can be used as corrosion inhibitors for
copper-based alloys, however ,only a few have been tested for conservation of metallic
artifacts. In this work, two save chemical compounds, namely ethylenediamine and
polyacrylamide, were used as corrosion inhibitors for treatment and conservation of simulated
bronze samples and then applied for three bronze artifacts. These artifacts were discovered at
Tel Haboa North Sinai with a group of bronze coins. The simulated coupons were tested in
3.5% NaCl by accelerated corrosion test, and electrochemical measurements. The
characterization was performed using optical and X-ray diffraction techniques. The used
corrosion inhibitors showed high performance towards bronze simulated samples. Hence, they
were applied on real slected bronze artifacts.
Key words: bronze artifacts, conservation, corrosion inhibitors
*
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