from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Currently, the hot topic in restoration and conservation of metals is the application of corrosion inhibitors intended for protection of lead. Our research aims in selection of suitable protection system which would be applicable for conservation of historical lead seals. Commonly, the seals are stored in archives together with documents to which the seal are attached. Vapour organic acids, acetic acid being a typical example, are the most aggressive pollutants in the archives environment considering corrosion of lead. The research was focused on determination of the inhibition efficiency after various manners of lead coupons pre-treatment (corroded and electrochemically cleaned). Sodium undecanoate was used as the inhibitor in concentration of 0.01 and 0.05 mol/l. The solution was applied by immersion for 24 h. Polarization resistance measurement and electrical resistance technique were used to evaluate inhibition efficiency in neutralised acetic acid environment. Artificially created corrosion products were analysed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Electrochemical cleaning of the surface provided high inhibition efficiency of the sodium undecanoate solution (0.05 mol/l). In general, the inhibitor was more efficient at higher concentration. It formed a layer of hydrophobic properties. Unfortunately, disadvantage of this layer is its low abrasion resistance.
Keywords: Corrosion inhibitor, lead seals, sodium undecanoate, polarization resistance© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.