Author(s)

Yussri Salem

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.

The present work investigated the effect of the common gaseous pollutants on silver artifacts corrosion. The study will be carried out on manufactured coupons of silver alloy (91 silver, 9 copper) which have chemical composition similar to ancient Egyptian silver artifacts. These coupons will be exposed to gaseous pollutants of each individual gas; such as Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Carbon dioxide, Hydrogen sulfide and Chlorine. The exposure period will be four weeks in a climate chamber with gas concentration 10 PPM. After the test Examinations by SEM and PM were used to evaluate the effect of each gas and description the morphology of the corrosion layers. The results revealed that all gases reacted with the surface except carbon dioxide. The formed tarnishing layers varied in coverage and density rate. Corrosion products are analyzed by XRD and the results revealed Ag₂S, AgCl, Ag₂SO₄ and Ag₂O as corrosion products.

Silver, Artifacts, Atmospheric Corrosion, Gaseous Pollutants

Salem, Y. (2017) The Influence of Gaseous Pollutants on Silver Artifacts Tarnishing. Open Journal of Air Pollution, 6, 135-148. doi: 10.4236/ojap.2017.64011.