Dr. Lucrezia Barchi

ForschungsinstitutScholar in Residence

E-Mail l.barchi.ext@deutsches-museum.de

Zeitraum: 1. Januar bis 30. Mai 

Expanding Analytical Capabilitiies for Indoor Air Quality and Emission Studies: Implementation of Thermal Desorption-GC-MS at the Deutsches Museum

The project aims to implement and explore the full potential of the newly acquired Thermal Desorption (TD) unit at the Deutsches Museum, focusing on its applications for indoor air quality studies and the analysis of emissions from heritage materials. The TD system enables both the use of sorbent tubes—subsequently desorbed and analyzed by TD-GC-MS—and the use of canisters for whole-air sampling, providing increased flexibility for the investigation of compounds relevant to museum environments.
The project will address both well-known indoor air pollutants, such as acetic and formic acid, formaldehyde, and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), and compounds related to material degradation, including plasticizers such as camphor and phthalates, which are of growing concern for conservation and health. T the work will focus on a selected subset of these compounds, chosen on the basis of museum relevance and analytical feasibility, while initiating this type of systematic analysis at the museum.
Analytical methods will be developed and optimized for the quantification of target compounds in ambient air (e.g., inside display cases) and emissions from selected plastic materials known to be problematic in heritage collections. Calibration strategies using external or internal standards will be explored to achieve reliable quantification, laying the groundwork for future monitoring and research activities.

Education

B.A. Chemistry and Materials Chemistry, University of Bologna (2017)

M.A. Chemical Science, University of Padova (2020)

Ph.D. Chemical Science, University of Perugia, Italy (2025)