images: Alamy, ESA, Moderna Museet, NASA, Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons
MOXY project presented at European Space Agency
Moxy research was at the European Space Agency!
Atomic oxygen is naturally present in Low Earth Orbit (89-1000km altitude) and in space is a hazard to shuttles and satellites. However, on Earth it can be used for non-contact cleaning of sensitive surfaces as it can convert carbon-based contaminants into volatile species. On October 15-16 Tomas Markevicius presented a paper on atomic oxygen research progress in the workshop on collaboration between aerospace research and conservation science, organized by European Space Agency ESA and EARSeL at ESA-ESRIN in Frascati, Italy
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2024-11-03
MOXY featured by Lithuanian National Television
Lithuanian National Television visited Ghent University labs and interviewed Moxy scientists prof. dr. Klaas Jan van den Berg and Tomas Markevicius about the Atomic Oxygen technology.
LInk to the video: https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/2000370138/unikalia-technologija-belgijoje-vystantis-tomas-su-ja-nuvalome-purva-nuo-paveikslu
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2024-10-26
MOXY researcher and art conservator Nina Olsson gave a talk at the WAAC’s 2024 Annual Meeting, which took place at the Tedd Mann Theatre at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, CA. The paper “The Horizon Europe MOXY Research Project: Technology and Methodology for using Plasma-Generated Monoatomic Oxygen for Cleaning Sensitive Surfaces” raised lively interest, with many question and discussion that followed.
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2024-10-13
Green Cluster workshops in Vilnius at Pranas Gudynas Conservation Centre
Three practical workshops were held at Pranas Gudynas Conservation Centre, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 5th September. Workshops where organized by MOXY project together with the Green Cluster partners GoGreen and GreenArt projects.
The workshops were given by prof. Pierro Baglioni and Giulia Poggi from University of Florence - addressing surface cleaning methods suitable for painted, textile, or paper substrates, prof. Edith Joseph (Haute École Arc Conservation-Restauration, Neuchâtel, Switzerland) demonstrated methods of cleaning metals, where conservators may bring their silver, brass, copper, and steel samples for cleaning, and Francesca Ramaciotti (the University of Bologna) addressed methods for varnish and coating removal from painted surfaces.
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2024-09-10
Symposium in Vilnius: 'Green and Sustainable Approaches to Cleaning Sensitive Works of Art'
On September 4th MOXY team hosted their very first Symposium "Green and Sustainable Approaches to Cleaning Sensitive Works of Art' , which marked a two year anniversary of the project and was part of European Heritage Days programme.
The Symposium gathered together not only scientists and conservators from the MOXY project, but also the whole Green Cluster team - scientists from GoGreen and GreenArt. Among them some of the most renowned conservation science experts Prof. Piero Baglioni of the University of Florence and Dr Bronwyn Ormsby of the Tate Gallery in London.
Presentations were followed by Green Cluster for Science and Conservation Research Round table – Expert panel discussion. The importance of the cultural heritage and implementation of green technologies in the CH field was strongly emphasized throughout the conversation.
We want to thank all the Symposium participants, who traveled to Vilnius and watched online, as well as our Green Cluster partners, ICOMOS Lithuania, Lithuanian Research Council, Pranas Gudynas Conservation Centre and National Art Museum of Lithuania National Gallery of Art - for making this special event possible.
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2024-09-06
MOXY researchers participated at prestigious Gordon Research Conference
The Green Cluster was at Les Diablerets GRC 2024. The three European Commission’s projects: Moxy @moxy.project GoGreen @gogreen_conservation and Green Art have formed an enduring Green Cluster for Science and Conservation Research and spoke as a single voice at the top-tier 2024 Gordon Research Conferences on Scientific Methods in Cultural Heritage Research in Les Diablerets. Tomas Markevicius was an invited speaker with the topic “Oxygen Out of This World: Tailoring Atomic Oxygen Species by Using Low-Temperature Atmospheric Pressure Radio-Frequency Plasma for Non-Contact Green Cleaning in Cultural Heritage Conservation”
We had a full session, coordinated by Katrien Keune (Rijksmuseum, University of Amsterdam) on the theme of sustainability and green tranformation of cultural heritage conservation through measurable advances in materials and technology as a key objective.
@gogreen_conservation : Katrien Keune | Arianna Traviglia | Edith Joseph | Loïc Bertrand | Serge Cohen | Mathieu Thoury | Victor Gonzalez | Jorien Duivenvoorden | Laure Cazals | Joen Hermans
@moxy.project : Ilaria Bonaduce | Klaas Jan van den Berg
@Greenart Piero Baglioni
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2024-07-14
MOXY research at 6th International Conference on Innovation in Art Research and Technology InART2024 in Oslo June 4-7, 2024
Moxy research progress was presented at InART 2024 in Oslo. The InART conference aims to create a forum for knowledge transfer between different fields of science and technologies applied to the characterization, conservation, and preservation of global cultural heritage. MOXY presented two posters. The first poster: Towards new atomic oxygen technology for non-contact cleaning carbon-based contaminants: approaches to atomic oxygen generation pathway, characterization of effluent, and potential for greener cleaning methodology. The second poster focused on AO cleaning of soot on silk. On June 7 MOXY gave a talk titled: Investigation of non-contact cleaning of typical unstable sensitive cultural heritage materials from fire-born soot using atomic oxygen generated with the radiofrequency cold plasma at atmospheric pressure.
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2024-06-07
MOXY presents: short video interviews with our researchers team
We are very exited to present the first video from our short video series 'MOXY Researcher in the Spotlight'! Our very first speaker - Michail Poupouzas from TU Eindhoven talking about the scientist role in cultural heritage. Follow our news and social media updates for more.
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2024-05-07
MOXY PhD researcher Michail Poupouzas wins the Willey Poster Award at Plasma Tech 2024 in Vienna
And the winner at Plasma Tech 2024 in Vienna is… atomic oxygen and MOXY physicists! We congratulate the success of Ph.D. researcher Michail Poupouzas (Eindhoven Technical University), prof. Anton Nikiforov (Ghent University), prof. Rino Morent (Ghent University) and prof. Ana Sobota (Eindhoven Technical University) won the Willey Best Poster award at Vienna's Plasma Processing and Technology International Conference Plasma Tech 2024. The high-profile international conference highlighted advances in fundamental understanding of processing plasmas and their interactions with matter, as well as the importance of these interactions in emerging and existing applications. Michalis and his PhD supervisors presented their work in progress in developing a cold plasma-generated atomic oxygen process and prototype system tailored for the non-contact cleaning of cultural heritage materials. MOXY is venturing into new territory with roots in NASA research, bridging the gap between physics, engineering, aerospace science, cultural heritage, and sustainability science in pursuit of a breakthrough technology to conserve otherwise untreatable materials and preserve works of art for the future in a sustainable and green way. Photo: Michail Poupouzas at Plasma Tech conference.
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2024-05-04
Dr. Silvia Pizzimenti, from the University of Pisa, presented MOXY at Yuri's Night which was hosted by the Association for the Dissemination of Astronomy and Astronautics - ADAA in Ferno (MI), Italy. Yuri's Night is a commemoration of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to venture into space on April 12, 1961, and the inaugural launch of the first Space Shuttle on April 12, 1981.
On Saturday the 13th of April, communicators illustrated the scientific and technological challenge posed by space exploration. In this context, atomic oxygen was presented to the public as a new technology that comes from space and is transferred to heritage conservation with a very high potential.
The presentation entitled "Dalla ricerca spaziale alla conservazione dei beni culturali: il progetto internazionale MOXY" has received appreciation from all the audience.
2024-04-13
MOXY project presented at Yuri's Night hosted by the Association for the Dissemination of Astronomy and Astronautics - ADAA
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The MOXY team warmly invites the heritage community and wider society to join in celebrating the ICOMOS International Day for Monuments and Sites on April 18th. This significant day provides a moment to honor and cherish the diverse cultures, histories, and architectural marvels that define our world. International Day for Monuments and Sites is not only a celebration – it is also a call to action. It reminds us of the urgent need to protect cultural heritage from multiple threats and agents of deterioration, such as fires, pollution, other natural and man-made disasters, unsustainable development and urbanization, climate change, and neglect. Within this framework, MOXY's mission is crucial as it encompasses an advanced technological green innovation for non-contact cleaning of cultural heritage materials that aims to empower conservation professionals to preserve, clean, and restore works of art and other tangible cultural heritage assets from fire-born soot and other carbon-based contaminant that cannot be treated using the available methods. Experience the exciting journey with the MOXY team as we delve into the research and development of atomic oxygen technology for cultural heritage and celebrate this occasion by visiting and honoring our monuments and sites and taking an active role in preserving them for the future.
2024-04-18
International Day of Monuments and Sites 2024: Disasters & Conflicts Through the Lens of the Venice Charter
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Beaufort Delaney "Twilight Street", 1946
An interview with MOXY researcher Nina Olsson on treating Delaney's Twillight Street
MOXY researcher Nina Olsson recently treated an urban landscape oil and casein painting by Harlem Renaissance painter Beauford Delaney from 1946, titled "Twilight Street". Significant carbon soot depositions obscured the unvarnished surface, perhaps dating to the struggling artist's coal or wood stove heated studio, and severe lifting of the high impasto surface layers, caused by humid storage conditions, were major obstacles to overcome. It is no surprise that Olsson described the "Twilight Street" treatment as one of the more challenging in her career and that AO MOXY technology would have been of remarkable assistance in treating this painting since atomic oxygen has the unique capacity to transform carbon into volatile species and remove soot in a non-contact way.
From February 2024 the Harlem Renaissance masterpiece is on display at the Portland Art Museum, and we are very excited to share its' story told by Nina Olsson and Martha Ullman West. Interview link
Photos by Nina Olsson
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2024-02-21
Micrograph of the crescent moon before treatment, showing deposition of carbon soot, and the formation of cadmium oxide on the surface
