Oxidation

Oxidized sterling silver
MFA# 2006.635

Description

1) A reaction in which a material combines chemically with oxygen to form an oxide. In an oxidation reaction where electrons are transferred, the oxidized material loses electrons. Oxidation is a degradation process that is usually irreversible. One example of oxidation is when metallic silver on the surface of a photograph reacts with oxygen and becomes invisible, thus degrading the image quality.

2) The deposit formed on the surface of a metal or plastic due to an oxidation reaction.

Synonyms and Related Terms

oxidize; oxidise (Br.); autoxidation

Resources and Citations

• R. J. Gettens, G.L. Stout, Painting Materials, A Short Encyclopaedia, Dover Publications, New York, 1966

• Theodore J. Reinhart, 'Glossary of Terms', Engineered Plastics, ASM International, 1988

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

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

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

• Pam Hatchfield, Pollutants in the Museum Environment, Archetype Press, London, 2002

• IPI: Photograph Activity Test

• 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