Safe handling and analysis

The preservation of objects from the Titanic requires hours of care for each piece. Conservators must eliminate bacteria, salt, and incrustations that have accumulated during long years at the bottom of the sea. Once removed from the ocean, an object is cleaned with a soft brush, then placed into a tube of water lined with foam for the trip to the preservation laboratory.

Scanning electron microscopy helps to uncover the nature of the samples. For metal objects, this analytic technique adds important information to that provided by metallographic microscopy, which determines the type of crystallisation in metallic grains. In addition, metal objects are usually placed in a desalinisation bath and subjected to several cycles of electrolysis: a metal cage covering the object receives an electric current that removes destructive salts from the object by attracting negative ions.