Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOXY (GREEN ATMOSPHERIC PLASMA-GENERATED MONOATOMIC OXYGEN TECHNOLOGY FOR CONTACTLESS ATOMIC SCALE CLEANING OF WORKS OF ART/ MOXY)
Période du rapport: 2022-11-01 au 2023-12-31
The groundbreaking MOXY mission is a response to the urgent need to safeguard cultural heritage CH from the climate crisis, unsustainable living, and social unrest, which increasingly threaten CH through the deposition of contaminants from fires, pollution, vandalism, and biological deterioration. Numerous CH materials cannot tolerate mechanical “wet” or “dry” cleaning methods and professionals in all areas of specialization increasingly encounter surfaces where soiling cannot be removed at all. MOXY spearheads the green transformation in CH conservation and empowers practitioners with a groundbreaking atomic oxygen (AO) technology to remove carbon-based contaminants in a contact-free and liquid-free action.
AO is found in the space environment above the Earth's surface, and its use for the non-contact cleaning offers a breakthrough green solution for cultural heritage conservation as AO selectively rapidly reacts with soot and organic carbons, converting them into volatile species, mainly CO2 and H2O. Groundbreaking non-contact AO cleaning technology offers a new opportunity cleaning a broad range of CH materials, such as paper, textiles, painted surfaces, plaster, metals, plastics, from carbon-based contaminants.
The overall objectives can be summarized as following:
O1 Green AO technology elicitation study, based on interviews with the end-users
O2 Research and development of an atmospheric AO device prototype – proof of concept
O3 Investigating AO generation pathway and transport to the substrate
O4 Investigating AO interactions with carbon-based contaminants and art materials
O5 Testing and characterizing the AO effluent for conservation applications
O6 Developing an affordable high accuracy AO sensor technology to quantify AO flux parameters
O7 Technology road-mapping and investigating the environmental impact via LCA.
O8 Demonstration, Dissemination, and Public Outreach
Scientific and technological innovation by MOXY project contribute to the development an innovative and green non-contact cleaning methods, offering a groundbreaking technology, which does not raise health or environmental concerns, and can be upscaled. To ensure that AO technology is indeed green and sustainable, the MOXY project approach is based on full Life Cycle thinking to the conservation of CH and Safe & Sustainable by Design (SSBD) framework.
AO is found in the space environment above the Earth's surface, and its use for the non-contact cleaning offers a breakthrough green solution for cultural heritage conservation as AO selectively rapidly reacts with soot and organic carbons, converting them into volatile species, mainly CO2 and H2O. Groundbreaking non-contact AO cleaning technology offers a new opportunity cleaning a broad range of CH materials, such as paper, textiles, painted surfaces, plaster, metals, plastics, from carbon-based contaminants.
The overall objectives can be summarized as following:
O1 Green AO technology elicitation study, based on interviews with the end-users
O2 Research and development of an atmospheric AO device prototype – proof of concept
O3 Investigating AO generation pathway and transport to the substrate
O4 Investigating AO interactions with carbon-based contaminants and art materials
O5 Testing and characterizing the AO effluent for conservation applications
O6 Developing an affordable high accuracy AO sensor technology to quantify AO flux parameters
O7 Technology road-mapping and investigating the environmental impact via LCA.
O8 Demonstration, Dissemination, and Public Outreach
Scientific and technological innovation by MOXY project contribute to the development an innovative and green non-contact cleaning methods, offering a groundbreaking technology, which does not raise health or environmental concerns, and can be upscaled. To ensure that AO technology is indeed green and sustainable, the MOXY project approach is based on full Life Cycle thinking to the conservation of CH and Safe & Sustainable by Design (SSBD) framework.
During the first 14 months MOXY researchers beyond the management and coordination (WP8) have been working on the following work packages WP1-7:
WP1 Proof-of-concept AO system for contact-free cleaning of the works of art
WP2 AO green technology elicitation for CH conservation and road-mapping
WP3 Selection of art materials and samples for AO cleaning
WP4 Development, testing and evaluation of contact-free AO cleaning technology
WP5 Investigations & assessment of AO interactions with CH materials in cleaning treatments
WP6 Eco-design and sustainability assessment
WP7 Demonstration, dissemination, knowledge transfer and public outreach
Researchers have reached significant progress in all WPs. The AO prototype system has been designed and made functional, and is currently being advanced and optimized (WP1). The current prototype offers qualities that go beyond the state of the art. The AO generation was successfully tailored for conservation by investigating Ar/He/O2 gas phase composition, the waveform of applied voltage, gas flow dynamics and the geometry of the AO generator. The prototype is capable of generation AO with an unprecedented clearance from the surface (5–60 mm), and at low 1-8 W power and mild temperature process under 55C, safe for typical CH materials The technology was developed involving end-users from the early stages of design (WP2) via the technology elicitation study and interviews. An inventory survey of prospective CH materials and contaminants has been developed, shortlisting priority candidate materials, preparation of samples is in progress (WP3). The testing approach, methodology and protocols were developed, and AO testing has started and is in progress (WP4), investigating physical and chemical changes from the cleaning process (WP5). The eco-design was investigated by the life-cycle based hot-spot analysis, making the recommendation for the technology sustainability (WP6).
WP1 Proof-of-concept AO system for contact-free cleaning of the works of art
WP2 AO green technology elicitation for CH conservation and road-mapping
WP3 Selection of art materials and samples for AO cleaning
WP4 Development, testing and evaluation of contact-free AO cleaning technology
WP5 Investigations & assessment of AO interactions with CH materials in cleaning treatments
WP6 Eco-design and sustainability assessment
WP7 Demonstration, dissemination, knowledge transfer and public outreach
Researchers have reached significant progress in all WPs. The AO prototype system has been designed and made functional, and is currently being advanced and optimized (WP1). The current prototype offers qualities that go beyond the state of the art. The AO generation was successfully tailored for conservation by investigating Ar/He/O2 gas phase composition, the waveform of applied voltage, gas flow dynamics and the geometry of the AO generator. The prototype is capable of generation AO with an unprecedented clearance from the surface (5–60 mm), and at low 1-8 W power and mild temperature process under 55C, safe for typical CH materials The technology was developed involving end-users from the early stages of design (WP2) via the technology elicitation study and interviews. An inventory survey of prospective CH materials and contaminants has been developed, shortlisting priority candidate materials, preparation of samples is in progress (WP3). The testing approach, methodology and protocols were developed, and AO testing has started and is in progress (WP4), investigating physical and chemical changes from the cleaning process (WP5). The eco-design was investigated by the life-cycle based hot-spot analysis, making the recommendation for the technology sustainability (WP6).
A multitude of CH materials cannot tolerate the available “wet” or “dry” cleaning methods, which often use materials with unsustainable health and environmental impacts. AO cleaning process is non-liquid, volatile, nonthermal, and does not require or produce materials that raise environmental concerns. The ambitious MOXY results present a breakthrough in green cleaning methods:
- Green non-contact cleaning material: new opportunities to treat materials, that cannot sustain “wet” and “dry” cleaning methods
- Safe for health and the environment: reduces the carbon footprint, waste, and reliance on chemicals.
- Non-contact and non-liquid solution for friable, unstable materials.
- Volatile, non-thermal: can access contaminants in porous substrates.
- Culturally accepted: oxygen as a natural element would be culturally acceptable for indigenous and world culture communities that do not consent to the use of man-made materials treating rock art and sacred objects.
- New material for first responder actions treating CH objects that suffered from fire-born soot
- New ways to remove completely biological contaminants
- Green non-contact cleaning material: new opportunities to treat materials, that cannot sustain “wet” and “dry” cleaning methods
- Safe for health and the environment: reduces the carbon footprint, waste, and reliance on chemicals.
- Non-contact and non-liquid solution for friable, unstable materials.
- Volatile, non-thermal: can access contaminants in porous substrates.
- Culturally accepted: oxygen as a natural element would be culturally acceptable for indigenous and world culture communities that do not consent to the use of man-made materials treating rock art and sacred objects.
- New material for first responder actions treating CH objects that suffered from fire-born soot
- New ways to remove completely biological contaminants