Characteristics of Corrosion Layers and Corrosion Products by Lead Contents of Excavated Bronze Artifacts

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the corrosion characteristics of bronze artifacts according to lead contents by conducting a comprehensive analysis on corrosion layers and corrosion products focusing on excavated bronze artifacts of ternary alloys with various chemical compositions.</br>From the research outcome, the selective corrosion, high-tin corrosion layers, and lead compounds were identified in two excavated bronze artifacts, and there was a difference in the structure of corrosion layers and the corrosion products of core metal between high lead content bronze and the lowest lead content bronze. Especially, based on the specimen with the highest lead content, it was identified that lead oxide in reddish color and a large quantity of lead corrosion products including lead carbonate in various colors such as white, red, yellow, and green are distributed inside the base metal.</br>In this study, the number of analyzed samples is insufficient to represent the corrosion characteristics of bronze artifacts made of the ternary alloys. Therefore, it is judged that basic data should be accumulated by conducting a corrosion characteristic study on bronze artifacts with various alloy composition ratios in the future.