Tracking the progression of bronze disease – A synchrotron X-ray diffraction study of nantokite hydrolysis

•State-of-the-art time-resolved SR-XRD used to track reaction progression.•Conditions inside eCell mimic ‘burial’ conditions: low oxygen, high water content.•The reaction of nantokite to cuprite was observed under these conditions.

The hydrolysis of nantokite to form cuprite could be a reaction step in the progression of bronze disease on cupreous objects d’art. In this paper, this transformation is visualized for the first time using a time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiment. Complete conversion of nantokite to cuprite was observed on a nantokite patina over 5 h in water using time-resolved synchrotron X-ray diffraction.