Plasma-based nanotechnology against corrosion of organ pipes

Aggressive environments contribute to the corrosion of pipe organs, which causes flaking, losing the voice and final collapse of the old century’s pipes. Additional factor is dezincification of brass (CuZn) containing more than 15 at.% of Zn in the presence of oxygen and moisture. In this approach, the nanotechnology treatment of the CuZn24 (reed organ pipes) is proposed. The conservation strategy based on two stages Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) followed by Plasma Immersion Ion Implantation (PIII) were performed. The brass coupons were coated with the protective oxide-films (Al2O3, SiO2, and ZnO) using PLD technique, and implanted with nitrogen ions of energy 20 keV for 200 seconds. The influence of the deposited and implanted coatings, on the corrosion phenomena, has been evaluated by exposing the coupons to the laboratory air with the high concentration of 2% acetic acid (CH3COOH), as aggressive agent. The areal density of the deposited films was measured using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS). The composition and depth profiling of the sample’s elements was analyzed with Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES). The average roughness (Ra) of the as coated and implanted specimens was measured using Dektak Stylus Profilometry in 2 and 3 dimensions. Those results were compared with the roughness measurements performed after the corrosion test. A significant improvement in the corrosion resistance with acetic acid action has been achieved by applying aluminum oxide film (30 nm) and introducing nitrogen ions into the near surface and the interphase regions. This gives a light to introduce the nanotechnology into the greatest and best sounding objects of the cultural heritage.