Analysis of historic copper patinas 2 : Characterization of 400 year old patina from Royal 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 close to 400 years of exposure to the action of the atmosphere. A wide variety of techniques have been performed, including metallographic and chemical analysis (electrogravimetry, AAS, XRF) of the copper matrix, and spectroscopic and microscopic investigations (GIXRD, 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 [Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2]; and (c) the brochantite/antlerite crystals are randomly doped with Fe and C.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Annan kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Other Chemistry Topics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Atmospheric corrosion

Characterization

Copper tile

Patina

Queen Anne's Summer Palace

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)