Cultural Heritage – A Field for New Frontiers in Materials Science and Chemistry

Speaker

Maite Maguregui

Associate Professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry
University of the Basque Country
 

Abstract

Cultural heritage is an exceptionally rich yet still underexploited model system for advancing materials science. Unlike engineered materials, heritage materials—including artworks, archaeological artefacts, and built environments—are dynamic systems that evolve through long-term interactions with their environment, driving complex degradation processes. This makes them uniquely suited to studying material reactivity and transformation under realistic boundary conditions. However, their cultural value imposes strict constraints: interventions must be non-invasive or minimally invasive, reversible when possible, and compatible with long-term preservation. This creates a distinctive research space where scientific innovation must align with ethical responsibility, making advances in characterization, modelling, and materials design both challenging and impactful.

My research is situated at this interface, integrating chemistry, materials science, and conservation practice to investigate and model degradation processes in heritage objects, while contributing to their preservation. In this seminar, I will introduce multimodal analytical strategies combining advanced chemical imaging and hyperspectral scanning to map compositional changes and elucidate degradation mechanisms. The role of synchrotron radiation in cultural heritage studies will also be highlighted, as it enables the identification of chemical speciation at the micro- and nanoscale and the study of chemical transformations and sources of alteration, providing key insights into how heritage materials evolve over time, with an eye toward conservation.

Building on this analytical foundation, my work also focuses on designing sustainable functional materials for conservation of cultural heritage objects. I will introduce a new generation of nanocellulose gels with tailored functionalities for the desalination of wall paintings, cleaning of easel paintings, and removal of corrosion products from metallic heritage objects. These materials enable versatile application and, in some cases, reusability, supporting more sustainable and circular conservation practices grounded in a mechanistic understanding of material–object interactions.

This talk will also present a personal perspective on heritage science and technology, emphasizing the need to transition toward more predictive and preventive strategies for cultural heritage conservation.

Bio

Dr. Maguregui is Associate Professor in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the University of the Basque Country (Spain) and Visiting Research Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, since September 2025. She teaches across undergraduate programs (Food Science and Technology, Environmental Sciences), master’s programs (Forensic Analysis), and doctoral studies (Interdisciplinary Scientific Strategies in Heritage and Landscape).

Her main research line focuses on chemistry for the study and conservation of cultural heritage, with complementary interests in food science, environmental science, and forensic analysis. She has developed non-invasive methodologies for in situ and laboratory analysis of heritage objects and materials, aiming to model and understand deterioration processes and to propose informed conservation strategies. Her research includes studies of the wall paintings of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Machu Picchu, and Edvard Munch’s monumental paintings. More recently, her work has focused on the development of greener and more sustainable materials for cultural heritage conservation, including a new generation of nanocellulose-based materials with tailored functionalities for the desalination of wall paintings, the cleaning of easel paintings, and the removal of corrosion products from metallic heritage objects.

She has led projects at major large-scale facilities, including the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF, Grenoble, France) and the Ion Beam Laboratory at ETH Zürich. Since 2022, she has been a member of the ESRF “Historical Materials Block Allocation Group.” She is a representative of the Royal Spanish Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) and Chair of the EuChemS Working Party on Chemistry for Cultural Heritage. In 2023, she promoted the creation of the RSEQ Specialized Group on Chemistry for the Study and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, which she currently chairs.