Introduction to the use of electrochemical/electrolytic techniques in metal conservation

November 06-10, 2023

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Angela Middleton, senior archaeological conservator and Carola del Mese, project conservator at Historic England, invited Christian Degrigny to give a workshop on the use of electrochemical/electrolytic in metal conservation. Such techniques are not yet used in the UK, and the idea was to see how they could be applied to the metal finds stored at Fort Cumberland. Currently, iron is stabilized in NaOH solutions, while copper-based alloys are stored in demineralized water. It is suggested then to monitor the stabilization of iron-based alloys using Ecorr in parallel to the concentration of chlorides extracted over time. As for copper-based alloys, the same monitoring could be done in sodium sesquicarbonate solutions. The rinsing of iron-based alloys after stabilization was discussed, and the cathodic protection of the metal in the final rinsing solution should be implemented. The ENDLESS Metal tools were also demonstrated more particularly Discovery Mat and Pleco.