Inhibition treatment of the corrosion of lead artefacts in atmospheric conditions and by acetic acid vapour: use of sodium decanoate E. Rocca a, * ,C.Rapin a , F. Mirambet b a Laboratoire de Chimie du Solide Min eral, Universit e Henri Poincar e, Nancy I BP 239, 54506 Vandoeuvre Les Nancy, France b Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques, 29 rue de Paris, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne, France Received 17 December 2002; accepted 2 July 2003 Abstract Theefficiencyoflinearsodiumdecanoate,CH 3 (CH 2 ) 8 COONa(notedNaC 10 ),ascorrosion inhibitor of lead was determined by electrochemical techniques in two corrosive mediums: ASTM D1384 standard water and acetic acid-enriched solutions. Best results were obtained with 0.05 moll 1 of NaC 10 solution. In these conditions, the inhibition efficiency can be es- timatedof99.9%.Thecorrosioninhibitioneffectwasconfirmedbycyclicatmospherictestsin a climatic chamber in two different conditions: water saturated vapour, and acid acetic en- richedvapoursimulatingtheatmosphereinthewoodendisplaysinmuseums.Surfaceanalyses bySEMandX-raydiffractionindicatethatthemetalprotectionisduetotheformationofa protective layer mainly composed of lead decanoate Pb(C 10 ) 2 (metallic soap). This inhibition treatment was applied on objects of metallic cultural heritage: gallo-roman sarcophagus in lead.Electrochemicalmethodsconfirmtheefficiencyoftreatmentonarchaeologicalmaterials. In conclusion, this inhibitor treatment seems to be very promising against the atmospheric corrosion and the corrosion by organic acid vapour in museums. Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: A.Leadcorrosion;A.Atmosphericcorrosion;C.Conversioncoating;C.Corrosioninhibition * Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-383-912362; fax: +33-383-912166. E-mail address: emmanuel.rocca@lcsm.uhp-nancy.fr (E. Rocca). 0010-938X/$ - see front matter Ó 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0010-938X(03)00175-6 www.elsevier.com/locate/corsci Corrosion Science 46 (2004) 653–665