Publication details
Characterization of Plasmachemical Treatment of Archaeological Artifacts
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2001 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Proceedings of Frontiers in Low Temperature Plasma Diagnostics IV |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Corrosion and surface processing of materials |
| Keywords | plasma treatment; archaeological artifacts |
| Description | Plasmachemical treatment of archaeological artefacts is a relatively new technique. Up to now, it has been used more or less intuitively in practice, but for a widespread application an exact characterization of the process is necessary. The process is based on using low-pressure hydrogen plasma in which the artefacts are treated for several hours, usually in more steps. The problem is how long period of the plasmatic treatment is optimal and how to characterize its efficiency. From the kinetic point of view, the oxide and chloride molecules reduction is the main process. Significant, but not very intense radiation of the OH radical was observed in the optical emission spectra. We have measured the emission spectra in the range of 300 350 nm during the treatment of some metallic artefacts, such as silver coins and some pieces of iron. The OH radiation shows specific dependence on time (initially a fast increase, later a slower non-exponential decrease). Due to the fact that in pure hydrogen plasma the OH 0 sequence is not overlapped by any other radiation we tried to use its integral intensity in the range of 300 330 nm as a marker of the oxides reduction effectiveness. The measuring device used for our experiments could be used in practice for plasmachemical treatment monitoring. |
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