Corrosion State Simulation of Excavated Bronze Artifacts in Different Soil Media

Bronze artifacts are one of the representatives of ancient Chinese civilization and have important cultural and historical value. Due to being buried underground for hundreds or thousands of years, the soil environment greatly affects the corrosion process of bronze. A Cu-Sn-Pb bronze simulation samples with similar composition to ancient bronze ware were prepared by electroplating method, and the samples were corroded by chemical and electrochemical methods in different pH solutions to obtain the corrosion status and products of unearthed bronze ware under different soil conditions. Electrochemical testing methods such as Tafel curve, cathodic polarization curve, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used to study the corrosion behavior of samples after being corroded by acidic, neutral, and alkaline solutions. The results show that after chemical corrosion or electrochemical corrosion, the corrosion products on the surface of the samples were basically consistent, and their surface composition was also basically consistent with that of the excavated ancient bronze ware in the corresponding pH soil medium. The corrosion of samples was the fastest in acidic solutions, followed by alkaline solutions, and slowest in neutral solutions.