Protection of Archaeological Artefacts by Deposition of Parylene and SiO x Thin Films Radka Balastikova, Michal Prochazka, Premysl Mencik, Jakub Horak, Radek Prikryl, Frantisek Krcma, Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Czech Republic To prevent oxidation process after the removal of corrosion, it is necessary to protect the surface with a barrier film preventing the penetration of oxygen (as well as the other corrosion agents) to the surface. This study focuses on possibilities of the archaeological artefacts (iron) protection by a thin film deposition of SiO x and Parylene thin films. Parylene coatings are prepared by the standard chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. SiO x layers were deposited by PECVD in a low pressure reactor with capacitively coupled plasma discharge (13.56 MHz). The coatings were characterized by various methods in order to obtain information about chemical structure (FTIR), elementar composition (XPS), surface morphology (LCSM, SEM) and barrier properties (OTR). Standard corrosion tests were performed to determine the effectiveness of corrosion protection. PARALOID B44 Samples dried at 100°C for 4 hours under vacuum 2 layers of varnish (delay 6 hours), dried at ambient air Solution of 4% for iron samples 3% of benztriazole in ethanol added for other materials PARYLENE Used modification Parylene C Test – according to ISO 9227 in a cyclic salt spray chamber CC450 Ascot, time – 300 hours, temperature – 25°C pp-HMDSO Used HMDSO as a precursor Test – was performed as a immersion test (samples were dipped in pure water and in solution of sodium chloride), time – 336 hours, temperature – 20°C Fig. 7: Infrared spectrum of Parylene C Substrate Permeability (cm 3 /m 2 atm·day)) PP-foil665 PP-foil with pp-HMDSO 127 PP-foil with Parylene-C 32 Concentration (%) OSiC Surface66313 After etching Conclusion We have compared thin layers of Parylene C and pp-HMDSO which were used for the protection of archaeological artefacts. We determined that thin layers of pp-HMDSO did not contain carbon, which indicated that we had prepared the thin layer really similar to the SiO 2 like layer. With respect to the standard corrosion test was found that the thin film of Parylene C appeared to be a better protection than the thin film of pp-HMDSO. Fig. 6: Infrared spectrum of pp-HMDSO Fig. 10 Comparison of iron samples before corrosion test (a) and after corrosion test (b) for pp-HMDSO, Paraloid B44 and Parylene Fig. 1 Scheme of the apparatus for the deposition of pp-HMDSO Fig. 2 Apparatus for the deposition of pp-HMDSO (real view) Fig. 3 Molecule of HMDSO Fig. 4 Molecule of Parylene C Tab. 1 Transmision rate of the PP-foil Tab. 2 Concentration of O, Si and C obtained from the XPS measurements Fig. 8, 9 Micrographs of the surfaces of thin film of pp- HMDSO (a) and Parylene C (b), magnification of ab Fig. 5 Apparatus for the deposition of Parylene C (real view) This work has been supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, project No. DF11P01OVV004. ab Tab. 3 The process of coating of the samples by Paraloid B44 and conditions of corrosion tests for Parylene and pp-HMDSO