The Cleaning of Corroded Lacquered Brass with Complexing Agents: A Comparative Study

Lacquered brass objects are widely present in scientific and technical heritage collections. Localized atmospheric corrosion occurs on the metal when the coating fails to play its protective role. Although lacquered brass objects are not necessarily endangered by this phenomenon, the presence of dar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHeritage Vol. 7; no. 6; pp. 3135 - 3161
Main Authors Schröter, Julie, Truffa Giachet, Miriam, Cuvillier, Luana, Joseph, Edith, Brambilla, Laura
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.06.2024
Subjects
19th century
20th century
Aesthetics
Alloys
Atmospheric corrosion
brass
cleaning
Coatings
Comparative analysis
Copper
corrosion
Corrosion and anti-corrosives
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
FTIR spectroscopy
lacquers
Metals
Protective coatings
shellac
Zinc
France
United Kingdom
Germany
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Summary:Lacquered brass objects are widely present in scientific and technical heritage collections. Localized atmospheric corrosion occurs on the metal when the coating fails to play its protective role. Although lacquered brass objects are not necessarily endangered by this phenomenon, the presence of dark, unpleasant corrosion spots alters the surface appearance, affecting the readability of the objects. Conservators are therefore frequently asked to clean these surfaces. We hereby present the results of a study conducted in the framework of the CleanLaB (Cleaning of Lacquered Brass) project at the Haute Ecole Arc of Neuchâtel for the cleaning of lacquered brass. This work investigates the effects of several gelled cleaning systems applied on artificially aged, lacquered brass samples to remove the corrosion products without affecting the integrity of the coating. The performance of complexing agents commonly used in conservation was compared on lacquered brass mock-ups coated with shellac resin by means of multiple non-invasive characterization and imaging techniques. The tests included conventional complexing agents like sodium citrate and disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, as well as a bio-originated system based on deferoxamine, a microbial metal chelator investigated as a green alternative in cleaning formulations.
ISSN:2571-9408
2571-9408
DOI:10.3390/heritage7060148