Corrosion of an archeological Roman ring

Please check whether enrolling in this project is possible by directly contacting the responsible supervisor(s) indicated below as soon as possible. Note that although we announce many topics, we won't be able to offer all of them simultaneously due to limited lab capacity.

In 2016, excavations in Avenches (CH) unearthed the remains of a peculiar Roman ring. Like most other rings available for purchase today, Roman rings were usually coated by a novel metal. The decorative coating of the excavated ring however appears to be completely concealed by a thick layer of iron oxide rust, i.e. the silver foil that used to cover the ring is now on the inside of it. Students signing up for this project get the chance to unravel the phenomena leading up to this most unusual heirloom of Roman culture. With the help of experiments as well as computational means, we can dive into and explore the most plausible explanation for the formation of this very implausible-looking piece of jewelry. Students can decide for themselves how much time they want to dedicate towards experimental and computational work. Supervisors are available for an informal discussion about the project.