Investigating the condition of historic organic coatings on metals using electrochemical techniques

It is often assumed that historic organic coatings on metals no longer protect the metal beneath them, permitting corrosion. Electrochemical techniques, however, provide a way to evaluate coatings and the metals beneath them more objectively. This article looks at the criteria for choosing electrochemical techniques to analyze historic and conservation coatings, and describes techniques which have been identified as potentially suitable for this analysis.