Electrochemical evaluation of the patina of the weathering steel sculpture Once Módulo

  • Ana Crespo Ibañez Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
  • Blanca Ramírez Barat Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5306-4057
  • Iván Díaz Ocaña Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
  • Emilio Cano Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8716-3931
Keywords: weathering Steel, sculpture, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, atmospheric corrosion, conservation, contemporary art

Abstract

Weathering steels (WS) have been widely used due to the protective rust formed on the surface of the bare metal exposed to the atmosphere. They have been studied attending to specifications and characteristics in engineering, but in cultural heritage the use of this material does not follow the same criteria and has different needs which must be addressed. Among them, the design and the location of the sculpture may have an impact on the rust formed and may not be as protective as it was supposed to be.  

This work presents the study of the weathering steel sculpture Once Módulo which shows areas with different exposure to rainwater and different surface heterogeneities. The results obtained by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) have shown that the protective ability of the rust depends on the previous differences and that design and location of the artwork play an important role for its conservation.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Ana Crespo Ibañez, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

Ana Crespo obtained her bachelor degree in Chemistry with specialization in Chemistry of Materials in 2011 from the Complutense University of Madrid. During her bachelor she started the study of materials in cultural heritage with the project “Spectroscopic analysis of additives of concrete” at the Institute for the Structure of Matter. She continued her academic training with the master degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 2013 from Carlos III University of Madrid, where she obtained the award of basic science and engineering for the design of a portable electrochemical cell with gel-electrolyte, carried out at the CENIM. After working in the UK she returned to Spain to start her PhD at the CENIM with the project “Characterization and evaluation of artificial patinas in weathering steel sculpture”. Her work is focused on the study of natural and artificial patinas in weathering steel sculpture with Raman spectroscopy and electrochemical techniques. During her PhD she made an internship at Commissariat à l’energie atomique de Saclay (France) studying Raman mapping and EDS analysis in rust; she has participated in 8 national and international projects, 1 of them as principal investigator at the synchrotron SOLEIL; 8 publications in congress, 7 of them international; she has collaborated in specialized training courses and postgraduate courses with Carlos III University of Madrid, Pablo de Olavide University of Seville, Menéndez Pelayo International University. She is currently writing her PhD thesis that hopefully will be finished at June 2020.

Blanca Ramírez Barat, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

Postdoctoral researcher in the group “Corrosion and Protection of Metals in Cultural Heritage and Construction (COPAC)” at the Nacional Centre for Metallurgical Research (CENIM-CSIC), Madrid, Spain. After receiving her BA in Fine Arts (conservation), she graduated in Chemistry at the Complutense University in Madrid and completed her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the Carlos III University in Madrid. Her research is focused in the application of electrochemical techniques for conservation assessment and diagnosis in metallic cultural heritage and her doctoral thesis has been dedicated to the development of an electrochemical cell for in situ measurements on cultural heritage. She is also involved in several projects, networks and activities related to Heritage Science such as the Spanish Network of Science and Technology for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (TechnoHeritage), the National Plan for Research Conservation in Cultural Heritage (PNIC), CSIC´s Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform Patrimonio Abierto: Investigación y Sociedad, PTI-PAIS (Open Heritage: Research and Society) or the Spanish Node of the Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (ERIHS.es).

Iván Díaz Ocaña, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

He received his Bachelor’s degree in materials chemistry and his PhD, with a distinction “cum laude”, from the Complutense University in Madrid. His doctoral thesis was one of the first in-depth research conducted in Spain on atmospheric corrosion of weathering steels, incorporating nickel in its composition. During his PhD, he received several pre-doctorate research scholarships to complete his training in the characterization of rust at the Old Dominion University (USA) and University of Antioquia (Colombia). He has a solid background in electrochemical and accelerated corrosion tests and its research focus is on indoor and outdoor atmospheric corrosion of metals. As a result, he has published around 40 research papers in peer-reviewed journals in the field of atmospheric corrosion and has carried out scientific-technical assistance tasks for the industry.

Currently, he is working as postdoctoral researcher in the group “Corrosion and Protection of Metals in Cultural Heritage and Construction (COPAC)” at the Nacional Centre for Metallurgical Research (CENIM-CSIC), Madrid, Spain.

Emilio Cano, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

Emilio Cano is Tenured Scientist at the National Center for Metallurgical Research (CENIM) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid, leading the research group “Corrosion and Protection of metals in cultural heritage and construction” (COPAC). He graduated in Fine Arts Conservation in 1996 and obtained his PhD in 2001 from the Complutense University of Madrid, after an internship at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI), Ottawa.

As heritage scientist, his work has focused in the study of corrosion and protective systems for the metallic Cultural Heritage, atmospheric corrosion in museums and exhibitions; and the application of electrochemical techniques and corrosion inhibitors for the conservation of the cultural heritage.  He has published more than 125 scientific articles (88 in JCR/Scopus indexed journals), and presented at more than 100 scientific conferences. He has participated in 33 national and international research projects (6th and 7th Framework Programmes and Horizon 2020 from the EU), being PI in 14 of them in the last 10 years. These projects and several research contracts have been developed in collaboration with the most relevant institutions working on conservation of cultural heritage (Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España, Patrimonio Nacional, Museo del Prado, Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología, etc.).

Spanish Representative in the Executive Board of the Joint Programming Initiative “Cultural Heritage and Global Change: a Challenge for Europe” from 2011-2017. Assistant Coordinator of the International Council of Museums-Conservation Committee (ICOM-CC) Metal Working Group since 2012; Coordinator of the Spanish Network for Science and Technology for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (Technoheritage) since 2015, Fellow of the International Institute of Conservation (IIC) and member of the Spanish group of the IIC (GE-IIC); coordinator of the Spanish Node of the European Research Infrastructure on Heritage Science (E-RIHS).

References

CANO, E., CRESPO, A., LAFUENTE, D., RAMIREZ BARAT, B. (2014). “A novel gel polymer electrolyte cell for in-situ application of corrosion electrochemical techniques”. Electrochemistry Communications, 41:16-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2014.01.016

CRESPO, A. RAMÍREZ-BARAT., B. CANO, E. (2016).“Artificial patinas in contemporary weathering steel sculpture”. In International Conference YOCOCU. V International Conference of Youth in Conservation of Cultural heritage. Madrid.

DHAIVEEGAN, P., ELANGOVAN, N., NISHIMURA, T., RAJENDRAN, N. (2014). “Electrochemical Characterization of Carbon and Weathering Steels Corrosion Products to Determine the Protective Ability Using Carbon Paste Electrode (CPE)”. Electroanalysis, 26, 2419-2428. https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201400240

DÍAZ, I., CANO, H., CHICO, B., DE LA FUENTE, D., MORCILLO, M. (2012). “Some clarifications regarding literature on atmospheric corrosion of weathering steels”. International Journal of Corrosion, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/812192

DÍAZ, I., CANO, H., CRESPO, D., CHICO, B., DE LA FUENTE, D. MORCILLO, M. (2018). “Atmospheric corrosion of ASTM A-242 and ASTM A-588 weathering steels in different types of atmosphere”. Corrosion Engineering Science and Technology, 53: 449-459. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478422X.2018.1500978

DIEZ, A. (2015). Cómo medir el grosor de un pelo usando un láser casero [Online]. https://www.elespanol.com/omicrono/tecnologia/20150425/medir-grosor-pelo-usando-laser-casero/28497157_0.html: El Español. [Accessed 07/03 2017].

GHELARDI, E., DEGANO, I., COLOMBINI, M. P., MAZUREK, J., SCHILLING, M., KHANJIAN, H., LEARNER, T. (2015). “A multi-analytical study on the photochemical degradation of synthetic organic pigments”. Dyes and Pigments, 123: 396-403.

GÓMEZ, P. (2016). Amador Rodríguez Menéndez [Online]. http://www.esculturaurbana.com/paginas/ama.htm#p). [Accessed 21/10 2019].

MORCILLO, M., CHICO, B., DÍAZ, I., CANO, H., DE LA FUENTE, D. (2013). “Atmospheric corrosion data of weathering steels. A review”. Corrosion Science, 77: 6-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.corsci.2013.08.021

MORCILLO, M., DÍAZ, I., CANO, H., CHICO, B., DE LA FUENTE, D. (2019). “Atmospheric corrosion of weathering steels. Overview for engineers. Part I: Basic concepts”. Construction and Building Materials, 213: 723-737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.334

RAMÍREZ BARAT, B., CANO, E. (2018). “In Situ Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Measurements and their Interpretation for the Diagnostic of Metallic Cultural Heritage: A Review”. ChemElectroChem, 5: 2698-2716.

RAMÍREZ BARAT, B., CANO, E., LETARDI, P. (2018). “Advances in the design of a gel-cell electrochemical sensor for corrosion measurements on metallic cultural heritage”. Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 261: 572-580.

SCOTT, J. (1991). “Conservation of weathering steel sculpture”. In: Saving the twentieth century: the degradation and conservation of modern materials, Ottawa, Canada. Canadian Conservation Institue.

STRATMANN, M., BOHNENKAMP, K., ENGELL, H. J. (1983). “An electrochemical study of phase-transitions in rust layers”. Corrosion Science, 23: 969-985. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-938X(83)90024-0

Published
2020-06-25
How to Cite
Crespo Ibañez, A., Ramírez Barat, B., Díaz Ocaña, I., & Cano, E. (2020). Electrochemical evaluation of the patina of the weathering steel sculpture Once Módulo. Ge-Conservacion, 17(1), 153-159. https://doi.org/10.37558/gec.v17i1.761