Use of portable X-ray fluorescence instrument for bulk alloy analysis on low corroded indoor bronzes

One of the most often used non-destructive methods for elemental analysis when performing field measurements on bronze sculptures is X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis based on portable instrumentation. However, when performing routine in-situ XRF analysis on corroded objects obtained results are sometimes considerably influenced by the corrosion surface products. In this work the suitability of portable XRF for bulk analysis of low corroded bronzes, which were initially precisely characterized using sophisticated and reliable laboratory methods, was investigated and some improvements in measuring technique and data processing were given. Artificially corroded bronze samples were analyzed by a portable XRF instrument using the same methodology and procedures as when performing in-situ analysis on real objects. The samples were first investigated using sophisticated complementary laboratory techniques: Scanning Electron Microscopy, Proton-Induced X-ray Emission Spectroscopy and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry, in order to gain precise information on the formation of the corrosion product layers and in-depth elemental profile of corrosion layers for different aging parameters. It has been shown that for corrosion layers of up to ca. 25 μm a portable XRF can yield very accurate quantification results. - Highlights: • XRF quantification is very accurate for bronze corrosion layers of up to ca. 25 μm. • Corrosion layer formation on bronze described in two phases. • Corrosion layers precisely characterized using PIXE, RBS and SEM. • Corrosion approximated as CuO for layer thickness calculations via X-ray attenuations • Increasingly lighter corrosion matrix may cause SnLα radiation intensity inversion