Bridging the Gap

Delphine Neff is a research director at the NIMBE/LAPA. She develops research projects on understanding the transformation of ancient corrosion layers during desalination treatments as well as their interaction with organic compounds applied as protective coatings. She’s a member of the French society CEFRACOR and a member of the EFC STAC and chairwoman of the WP21 on ‘historical and archaeological artefacts”. Sabrina Grassini is Associate Professor of Applied Physical Chemistry at the Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Her main research works are devoted to Conservation of Cultural Heritage: studies of degradation processes on metallic artifacts and development of tailored strategies for restoration and conservation; she also develops studies on innovative plasma technologies for protection of metallic artifacts. She is member of the Italian Association of Metallurgy and Secretary of the EFC Working Party 21-Corrosion of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts. David Watkinson began his career as an object conservator working in museums and then specialising in archaeological material as a practical conservator at Cardiff University. He later moved into teaching and research where he developed as a heritage metals corrosion scientist with a particular interest in designing research that informs and evidences conservation practice and management strategies. He works with museums and heritage bodies to answer specific problems related to treatment, storage and display of heritage metal objects and supervises a PhD cohort engaged in researching these topics. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Vice-President of EFC Working Party 21 'Corrosion of Archaeological and Historical Artefacts', a former Council member of the International Institute for Conservation and a past Chair of the Institute of Conservation Archaeology Section. He was awarded the Plowden Medal for his services to conservation research in 2010 in recognition of his work on preservation strategies for the SS Great Britain.Nicola Emmerson is a conservation scientist who researches and teaches conservation at Cardiff University. Trained as an object conservator, her focus is on investigating corrosion prevention methods for heritage iron and copper alloys, from protective coatings to desalination and desiccated storage and display. She is the Director of a UKRI-funded conservation and heritage science research facility established to examine the impact of environments on the decay of heritage materials. Within the wider heritage sector, she is the Coordinator of the International Council of Museums – Committee for Conservation Metals Working Group (2023-26) and Chair of the Institute of Conservation Metals Group Committee. Nicola has been involved in the activities of EFC Working Party 21 since 2012 and is a regular contributor to their sessions at the annual European Corrosion Congress.

• 1. IntroductionPART ONE: Preserving Heritage Materials in Perpetuity: Ethics and Constraints1.1. Reflections on Patina and Surface Layers on Metals1.2. Love: The main ingredient in successful coatings1.3. Managing the Preservation of a Large Military Service Collection at the Tank Museum, Bovington UK: Challenges and collaborative research1.4. Hydrogen Reduction of Archaeological Iron: A reappraisal1.5. A Monumental Mission: Managing Treatment Lifetimes for Industrial-Scale Marine Iron Alloy Artifacts1.6. SS Great Britain1.7. Large Collections of Small Metal Objects: Managing their preservation via desiccated microclimates1.8. Experiencing Heritage Objects: Balancing material and functional originality PART TWO: The Value of Interdisciplinarity2.1. Interdisciplinarity in Conservation Education2.2. Reconciling Industrial Methods with Private Conservation Practice2.3. Transdisciplinary Collaboration for the Multi-Scale Description of Corrosion Structures in Metallic Heritage2.4. Understanding and Manging the Corrosion of Chloride Infested Archaeological Iron: A conservation and corrosion science synergy PART THREE: Methodologies for Corrosion Assessment3.1. Cathodic Protection of Historical Metal-Hulled Shipwrecks: Complementary approach from on-site global measurements to multiscale characterization3.2. Long-Term Marine Corrosion of Ferrous Objects and Shipwrecks and the Effects of Calcareous Deposition3.3. Isotopic Labelling to Understand the Long-Term Corrosion of Iron in Atmospheric Conditions: The case of the staples of the Mutte tower of the Metz cathedral PART FOUR: Novel Challenges and Treatments4.1. The Development of Tailored Coatings to Protect Patinated Bronze in Outdoor Applications4.2. Aluminium and its Alloys in Cultural Heritage: New challenges for conservation4.3. Brass as a Gold Imitation Used in Book Painting: Influence of a binder on brass corrosion and possible fixatives for gold imitation4.4. Metals in Association with Organic and Inorganic Materials: Marine composite artefacts4.5. Dechlorination of Iron III Phases in Corrosion Layers for the Preservation of Archaeological Artefacts4.6. Green Corrosion Mitigation and Conservation Strategies for Metal Heritage4.7. Recent Research on the Use of Scanning Laser Systems for Cleaning Cultural Heritage Cu-Based Artifacts