| AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Conservation Studies of Heritage Materials Focus Topic | Friday Sessions |
| Session CS-FrM |
| Session: | Conservation Studies of Modern Heritage Materials 3 |
| Presenter: | Amy Marquardt, University of Maryland, College Park |
| Authors: | A. Marquardt, University of Maryland, College Park E. Breitung, E-Squared Art Conservation G. Gates, The Walters Art Museum T. Drayman-Weisser, The Walters Art Museum G.W. Rubloff, University of Maryland, College Park R.J. Phaneuf, University of Maryland, College Park |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Atomic layer deposited metal oxide diffusion barriers are investigated to better preserve cultural heritage metal objects in museum collections. Recently, the effectiveness and reversibility of ALD films to create diffusion barriers for non-ideal silver and copper alloy (bronze) cultural heritage objects has been studied. Previous results demonstrate the ability of ALD films to protect clean, uniform silver substrates at laest an order of magnitude longer than current silver protection methods. The capability of ALD films to protect surfaces representative of “real” museum metal objects was investigated. These objects included silver surfaces with pre-existing surface treatments, including polishing abrasives, chemical dips or organic lacquers, and patinated copper alloys surfaces with changing chemical composition and topography. The ability of ALD films to uniformly wet non-ideal, chemically varying metal surfaces was investigated under accelerated aging in corrosive gas and acidic aqueous environments. ALD films were structurally engineered through thin film modeling and reflectance spectroscopy measurements to minimize object appearance and color change on patinated or tarnished substrates. Film reversibility was also examined to determine an acceptable technique to remove the ALD films without significantly altering the underlying metal substrate, an important requirement for art conservation practices.
*Work supported by the NSF under SCIART collaborative research grant #DMR1041809