This book will be of interest to all who seek to further their understanding of iron artefacts, their corrosion, conservation and pigments based on iron compounds, which mankind has used for millennia. The authors take the reader through some of the latest observations on the occurrence and role of compounds of iron - from the hot water undersea vents where the presence of iron pyrites is thought to be vital to the emergence of life on Earth to the discovery of jarosite on the surface of Mars, possibly indicating the occurrence of water; from the pyrophoric surprises one can have when dealing with iron artefacts taken from beneath the sea to the use of a blue oxide of iron as a pigment in mediaeval wall paintings; from rusticles on the Titanic to the analysis of colouring matter on the Turin shroud.
The great variety of iron compounds is examined (from the simple oxides to the exotic green rusts, from Prussian blue to yellow jarosites), the corrosion of iron in different environments is discussed and a critical review of the many attempts to conserve iron is presented. This volume will serve as a useful textbook on the subject for many years.
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Foreword by Ian Donald MacLeod
Preface
Acknowledgements
Iron and steel: an introduction
Extraction of iron
Alloying elements
Constituents of iron and steels
Constituents of cast iron
Iron and iron alloys
Early steel
Damascening and pattern welding
Making cast iron
Iron dowels in structures and buildings
Making iron plate
Patination, coloration and surface finish of iron
Iron oxides and hydroxides
Goethite
Lepidocrocite
Akaganeite and schwertmannite
Feroxyhyte
Ferrihydrite
Bernalite
Haematite
Oxide-coated pottery
Magnetite
Maghemite
Wustite
Use of ilmenite
Use of iron zinc oxide
Occurrence of iron oxides in blackened stone crusts
An introduction to Potential-pH diagrams
Iron carbonates
Iron chlorides
Ferrous and ferric chloride
Iron oxychloride
Green rusts
Green rust on cast iron
Ferrous hydroxychloride
Iron sulphides and sulphates
Origin of the iron sulphides
Chalcopyrite (CuFeS(2))
Pyrite disease
Iron sulphates
Jarosites
Iron arsenates
Iron phosphates
Vivianite
Phosphates as corrosion inhibitors
Iron silicates
Green earths
Aerinite
Iron slag constituents
Iron carboxylates and cyanides
Iron gall inks
Prussian blue
Iron salts in historic photographic processes: cyanotypes
Iron corrosion in the soil
Deterioration in the soil
Corrosion product determination in burial environments
Understanding the corrosion process
Sulphate-reducing bacteria
Degradation of wood and other organic materials
Petrification and replacement of organic material in burial environments
Iron corrosion in the atmosphere
Rate of atmospheric rusting
Modelling atmospheric corrosion
Atmospheric corrosion and sulphates
Atmospheric corrosion and chlorides
Other atmospheric corrosion factors
Effects of copper and other alloying elements
Corrosion of weathering steels
Detrioration of historic iron structures
The iron pillar of New Delhi
Iron corrosion in cement and concrete structures
Iron corrosion in freshwater and marine environments
Introduction to the conservation of iron objects
Morphological states
Surface appearance
Methods of protection
Conservation of iron from the soil
Historical and early conservation treatments
Early impregnation techniques
Examination techniques
Mechanical and chemical cleaning
Techniques based on reduction and heating
Techniques based on aqueous extraction
Measuring chloride ion concentration
Composite iron objects
Storage strategies
Conservation of exposed ironwork
Inorganic coatings for iron
Organic coatings for iron
Comparative studies of modern organic coatings
Restoration of the Statue of Liberty
Preservation of the SS Great Britain
Historic iron railings, fences and building components
Conservation of painted iron surfaces
Corrosion inhibitors
The behaviour of cast iron during a fire
Iron staining and associated deterioration
Conservation of iron from marine sites
Electrochemistry and electrolytic reduction
Iron and polyethylene glycol (PEG)
Reconstruction of the form of totally corroded iron objects
Submarines
On-site packing
In-situ monitoring
Conservation and decision-making
Assessing the efficacy of treatment
Glossary of some technical terms and descriptions
Bibliography
Index
Reviews
I am very glad to have read this book and it will fit nicely alongside Salaman's dictionaries and similar volumes. It is of similar textual quality and will not be out of place.
Tools and Trades History Society (Autumn 2009) 27-29
The publication is well produced with lots of diagrams and a number of excellent colour plates...[It] is an ideal reference book.
Journal of the Institute of Conservation 33(2) (September 2010) 201-203
...un texto imprescindible para consulta sobre cualquier aspecto del hierro y su conservación.
Ge-conservacion/conservação 1 (2010) 264-265
...the authors have presented a state of the art report on iron and its compounds used in art...this book will be interesting for everybody...who want[s] to improve [their] understanding of iron and its artefacts, their corrosion, conservation and pigments based on iron compounds and all those [who] work with any kind of iron.
Materials and Corrosion 61(2) (2010) 160
...as a basic text for students and conservators who need to know about iron, this book is a valuable source of information. It contains all that you think you need to know about this fundamental archaeological material and a lot that you did not think you ought to know. It is to be thoroughly recommended.
Studies in Conservation 57(3) (July 2012) 192
