ABSTRACT
The conservation of metallic items in museums and other Cultural Heritage sites need direct protection, e.g. by means of coatings able to delay the advance of corrosion. This work describes the electrochemical study (voltammetry of immobilized particles) of a set of metal slabs of copper, bronze, lead and steel protected with La(NO3)3- or La(AcO)3- silica based sol-gel coatings subjected to different induced corrosion tests aimed at detecting changes in the metal probes. Microstructural features of coated and uncoated areas after the ageing treatments were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy. The results pointed out the doped coatings ability to behave as an effective protective strategy in the case of copper, bronze and lead substrates, acting as a barrier effect and/or by means of a self-healing mechanism. However, steel samples need thicker coatings since small pits were detected on the coated surface.
