Characterisation of a centuries-old patinated copper roof tile from Queen Anne's Summer Palace in Prague

• This paper presents an in-depth characterisation study of the patina formed on a copper tile taken from the roof of Queen Anne's Summer Palace in Prague after > 300 years of exposure to the action of the atmosphere. A wide variety of techniques have been used, including metallographic and chemical analysis (electrogravimetry, AAS, XRF) of the copper matrix, and spectroscopic and microscopic investigations (GIXRD, FTIR, TEM/EDS and SEM/ EDS) to determine the composition and structure of the patina. The major conclusions of the study are: (a) the base copper contains abundant inclusions mainly of rosiaite (PbSb2O6); (b) the patina is formed by an inner sublayer of cuprite (Cu2O) and an outer sublayer of brochantite [Cu4SO4(OH)(6)] and antlerite [Cu3SO4(OH)(4)] and traces of azurite [Cu-3(CO3)(2)(OH)(2)]; and (c) the brochantite/antlerite crystals are randomly doped with Fe and C.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Metallurgi och metalliska material (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Metallurgy and Metallic Materials (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Copper tile

Atmospheric corrosion

Characterisation

Patina

Queen Anne's Summer Palace

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)