Artificial Aging of Tin Amalgam Mirrors: A Preliminary Study of Alteration Compounds and Kinetics

This preliminary study aims to investigate for the first time the kinetics of degradation of tin amalgam mirrors reflective layer. For this purpose some specimens of tin amalgam mirrors have been created, characterized and then subjected to artificial aging. The monitoring of the degradation was done by different techniques such as XRD, SEM and UV-VIS Reflectance Spectroscopy. They allowed to evaluate the progressive color and morphology changes of the amalgam layer, but no expected degradation compounds of amalgam, such as cassiterite and romarkite, were detected. The possible mechanisms underlying the experimental results and further experimental procedures and tools are discussed.