Historic K-rich silicate glass surface alteration: Behaviour of high-silica content matrices

Several K-Ca-Si glass compositions typical of Central-European glassworks are susceptible to damage beyond recall, even in mild museum conservative conditions. In order to provide a comprehensive picture of the deterioration process, replica samples were produced and exposed to four different museum-like environments. The corrosion experiment was followed by the use of ToF-SIMS, mu-Raman and mu-FTIR, performing a systematic compositional and structural study for the early stages (one year) of surface alteration. This work demonstrates the dominant role of Pb2+ and Ca2+ content for the inferable existence of connected conduction pathways, with strong implications on the surface's hydration, alkali-diffusion and hydrolysis.