| Atomic
Oxygen Restoration System Restores Artwork
 |
| Interaction of the Space Shuttle
with the upper atmosphere creates a corona seen at
night (right photo), in part, due to atomic oxygen. |
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| The left photo was taken after the
Cleveland Museum of Art's staff attempted to clean
and restore it using acetone and methylene chloride.
The right photo is after cleaning by the atomic oxygen
technique. |
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| Andy Warhol painting "Bathtub" (1961) |
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| This close up shows a beam of atomic
oxygen that was used to clean artwork. |
NASA research of atomic oxygen damage to satellites in low
earth orbit has been turned into a means to restore damaged
artwork. In the upper reaches of the atmosphere, about 200-500
miles, an elemental form of oxygen is created from exposure
to intense solar ultraviolet light. Oxygen molecules are
decomposed from O2 into two separate oxygen atoms. This form
of elemental oxygen is highly reactive and exposes a spacecraft
to corrosion that shortens its life. Researchers at NASA's
Glenn Research Center have studied the damaging effects of
atomic oxygen in order to find materials and methods to extend
the lifetime of low earth orbit spacecraft such as communication
satellites, space shuttle, and the International Space Station.
While developing methods to prevent damage from atomic oxygen,
they discovered that it could also remove layers of soot
or other organic material from a surface. Atomic oxygen will
not react with oxides, so most paint pigments will not be
affected by the reaction. For paintings containing organic
pigments, the exposure can be carefully timed so that the
removal stops just short of the pigment. Interaction of the
Space Shuttle with the upper atmosphere creates a corona
seen at night (right photo), in part, due to atomic oxygen.
Facilities in NASA Glenn's Electro-Physics
Branch simulate the low earth orbit environment to
test the damaging effects of atomic oxygen on spacecraft
materials. Researchers Bruce Banks and Sharon Miller
were contacted by conservators from the Cleveland
Museum of Art about the possibility of using atomic
oxygen to clean surfaces of damaged artwork. Tests were
performed in 1996 to determine effect on smoke damaged
artwork. Two religious paintings damaged in an arson
fire at St. Alban's Church in Cleveland, Ohio were the
first test for the atomic oxygen restoration system.
Both paintings were considered unsalvageable and were
donated to NASA for testing its atomic oxygen cleaning
process. While the pieces were of emotional value to
the congregation that owned them, they would have to
be considered minor works of art. The circular painting
was a copy of a Raphael original, "Madonna of the
Chair." In the cases of these two damaged paintings
the art community had "nothing to lose, but much to gain" if
the atomic oxygen technique proved successful. As seen
in the photo, the technique was a success and has encouraged
the art community to risk more important works of art
to test it.
The most quantitative evidence of the atomic oxygen technique's
success for art restoration is its use on a major art work,
the Andy Warhol painting "Bathtub" (1961) owned by the
Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The
atomic oxygen technique was used to remove a lipstick smudge
from the painting. The underlying paint was porous and
the museum's conservators determined that using their traditional
solvents would only cause the lipstick to soak into the
painting and make things worse. At the same time the museum
considered the painting defaced and removed it from the
exhibit gallery. The technique's innovators built a portable
version of the atomic oxygen device and transported it
to the museum, where it successfully removed the lipstick
smudge, but only after preliminary testing performed on
edges of the painting that were not part of the viewing
area.
Besides the Andy Warhol painting, a Roy Lichtenstein ink
drawing on paper has been cleaned which was also fire damaged.
It has been estimated that worldwide an average of one
collection or gallery suffers fire damage every day. Charring
and smoke damage from fires are very resistant to traditional
cleaning techniques. Current processes used to restore
art works, generally use chemical solvents to remove dirt,
varnish and thin layers of soot. In some cases such as
charring from fire damage, these techniques are not effective
and may even damage the painting.
Using atomic oxygen system for art restoration is environmentally "green" in
that no solvents are used or produced and only trace amounts
of ozone, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are produced
during the atomic oxygen formation and reaction processes.
Atomic oxygen treatment also fits into the niche of being
able to restore works of art in situations where there
is surface char, and defacements or contaminants on surfaces
on which solvents cannot be used.
Atomic oxygen removes any organic coating from a painting,
containing inorganic pigments on the surface, by reacting
the organic coating with atomic oxygen thus forming a gaseous
byproduct and leaving the inorganic pigments undisturbed.
The invention can remove all types of organic protective
coatings uniformly over the surface without any surface
structure altering physical contact. Low spots, as well
as high spots on the painting surface, can be cleaned equally
well. Polyurethane is easily removed by reacting with atomic
oxygen without damage to the underlying painting.
NASA Glenn researchers, Banks and Miller received the
Jumpstart Innovation Award from NorTech for
their Atomic Oxygen Restoration System, which was presented
June 9, 2004 at the Landerhaven Conference Center, Mayfield
Heights, Ohio. Their innovation also received a prestigious R&D
100 Award (2002). Research and Development Magazine,
the competition sponsor, also awarded the technology an
Editor's Choice Award (2002) which is an extra award bestowed
upon the entry that editors consider the most fascinating.
The concept for the process for non-contact removal of
organic coatings from painting surfaces was patented in
1996 (#5,560,781) and 1997 (#5,693,241) (http://www.uspto.gov).
In the years since patents were issued, the process has
been concept tested in order to determine the ability of
atomic oxygen to safely treat the range of media typically
used by artists (oil paint, acrylic paint, acrylic gesso,
watercolors, pen and ink drawings and others) in order
to gain acceptance of the process in the art conservation
community. In 2001 validation testing was completed, the
process was deemed ready and recognized as acceptable for
functional art restoration, and the process determined
to be ready for licensing.
Art restorers are an extremely cautious group. The unique
and highly valuable nature of the paintings and prints
they are called on to restore require this caution, as
these works could easily be destroyed by careless cleaning.
Atomic oxygen cleaning is an added tool for conservators
to use where conventional techniques have not been effective.
The experience gained from studying atomic oxygen damage
to spacecraft led to its use to restore works of art. The
experience gained from that application is being applied
by NASA to further understand space exposure as well as
a variety of other medical and industrial applications.
Other interesting applications include removal of biocontaminants
from the surfaces of orthopedic implants such as artificial
hip joints, prior to surgery. NASA researchers continue
to turn the damaging effects of atomic oxygen on spacecraft
into beneficial uses here on earth.
The NASA Glenn
Technical Reports Server has archived reports on
this subject. Search on "atomic oxygen".
For more information, contact:
Bruce Banks Bruce.A.Banks@nasa.gov
(216) 433-2308
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