(PSG) MOXY: Plasma-generated Atomic Oxygen for the Cleaning of Sensitive Cultural Heritage Surfaces

Nina Olsson is a researcher and conservator of paintings in private practice established in Portland, Oregon in 2001. Nina has worked on the development and application of specialized heat transfer methods for art conservation since 2003. From 2011-2014, Olsson held a research position at the University of Florence, Italy Department of Industrial Engineering, and co-led the IMAT Project, a research initiative funded by the European Commission to develop an innovative new heat transfer device for the conservation treatment of cultural heritage objects that integrates cutting edge nanotechnology with the special demands of art conservation. Since 2015, Nina is President and co-founder of Heritage Conservation Group, LLC, (HCG) a consortium of Portland-based conservators of diverse specialties.

Nina is a collaborator in PLASMART, a pilot project hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with the University of Ghent Department of Applied Physics, Plasma Physics and Engineering, and the Center for Art Technological Studies (CATS) at the National Gallery of Denmark, to investigate the use of monoatomic oxygen (AO) for use as a non contact method for removing carbonaceous soiling and soot from sensitive cultural heritage surfaces. Pioneering research on the application of AO for cleaning of art surfaces was conducted by Bruce Banks and Sharon Miller at NASA in the 1990s. Nina is also a Senior Researcher in the MOXY project, an EU Horizon funded research project that aims to investigate and develop AO technology for the treatment of cultural heritage materials. www.moxyproject.eu

Tomas Markevicius is a research scientist and paintings conservator whose work bridges cultural heritage, applied physics, and sustainable technologies. With over a decade of experience at institutions including the Munch Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the University of Amsterdam, and Ghent University, he brings together conservation practice and advanced scientific research. He is completing a PhD in Conservation at the University of Amsterdam while working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ghent University’s Department of Physics, in the Research Unit for Plasma Technology. His current research focuses on atomic oxygen (AO) plasma cleaning—a breakthrough non-contact method to reverse the darkening of lead white and safely remove carbon-based contaminants. A Fulbright Scholar and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, Tomas collaborates internationally with scientists, conservators, and innovators to develop sustainable, cross-disciplinary solutions that protect cultural heritage and extend into new materials and biomedical applications. Guided by the belief that the best way to shape the future of conservation is to build it, he works across methods, materials, and ideas—advancing both heritage science and the care of paintings and modern materials.

Catarina Rocha Pires is a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam, part of the Horizon Europe MOXY project. She holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration from the NOVA School of Science and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal. Before beginning her PhD, Catarina gained practical experience in conservation and restoration and conservation science through internships at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) in Amsterdam, SRAL The Conservation Institute in Maastricht, and several museums in Lisbon.

Cecilia Campi is a PhD student in Chemistry and Material Science at the University of Pisa, working on the MOXY project. Her research focuses on assessing the impact of new cleaning treatments, such as Atomic Oxygen, on textiles, particularly silk and dyes, by analyzing changes in their chemical and physical properties.

Kirill Shumikhin is from Moscow, Russia. He graduated from Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology in chemical engineering, majoring in the chemistry of rare earth elements. Following that, he spent six years as a conservation scientist at the Tretyakov Gallery, analyzing materials from diverse cultural heritage objects in close collaboration with conservators. This work sparked his interest in oil paint chemistry and led him to a PhD in analytical chemistry at the Universities of Pisa and Amsterdam. Currently, his research focuses on the effects of novel atomic oxygen (MOXY) surface cleaning on naturally occurring curing and aging of lipids in oil paintings.