Corrosion

Azurite corrosion on bronze

Description

The electrochemical degradation of a material due to reactions with its environment or applied reagents. Corrosion may affect the color, texture, or form of the object. Corrosion is accelerated by the presence of acids, bases, and halogen salts. Contact of two metals of differing electrochemical potentials can result in Galvanic corrosion. Copper, Nickel, Chromium, and Zinc are some of the more corrosion resistant metals and are often used as protective coatings for other metals.

Azurite and malachite on bronze

Examples are corrosion are:

• Iron reacts with water and oxygen to form rust.

• Aluminum quickly oxidizes to form a protective oxide layer.

• Glass dissolves in alkaline solutions.

• Concrete is softened by sulfate solutions.

• Copper produces a stable patina in moist air.

Synonyms and Related Terms

corrosive material

Additional Images

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  Bronze disease

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  Bronze disease

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  Corrosion

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  Blue-green corrosion

Resources and Citations

• J.Waite, "Architectural Metals: Their Deterioration and Stabilization" in Preservation and Conservation: Principles and Practice, S.Timmons (ed.), Preservation Press, Washington DC, 1976, p. 213.

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 290

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Dictionary of Building Preservation, Ward Bucher, ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York City, 1996

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000