At TECHNART 2025 in Perugia, Italy, researchers from the MOXY project showcased a series of studies centered on the sustainable, non-invasive cleaning and conservation of fire-damaged and sensitive cultural heritage materials.

Tomas Markevicius  introduced a transformative technique using atmospheric atomic oxygen (AO) generated in non-equilibrium helium plasma for cleaning soot-blackened gypsum plaster surfaces. His method eliminates soot through chemical conversion into CO and CO₂ at mild temperatures without physical contact, water, abrasives, or solvents—preserving the fragile artwork while ensuring effective soot removal. This innovation represents a significant leap forward in the safe restoration of fire-damaged heritage.

Cecilia Campi, examined the degradation mechanisms of silk, a common material in heritage artifacts, with the aim of tailoring conservation methods to the specific aging behaviors of silk. Her work contributes to MOXY’s overarching mission by advancing material-specific conservation approaches.

Sofie Wikkelsø Jensen, revealed another critical discovery—AO plasma induces a reversible hydration state transition in gypsum plaster, a previously unknown phenomenon with implications for both conservation science and chemistry. This finding expands our understanding of plasma-material interactions and supports the development of safe, reversible conservation technologies.

Kirill Shumikhin compared AO plasma and laser treatment on oil paint binders, analyzing their chemical and physical impacts to determine the relative safety and effectiveness of each method. His study helps define best practices for using these non-contact technologies on classic painted surfaces.

Catarina Rocha Pires (University of Amsterdam) evaluated novel dry and non-contact techniques for cleaning surface dirt from solvent-sensitive and mechanically fragile paintings. Her research also involved developing standardized mock-ups using replicated fire-born soot, enabling reproducible testing environments. This methodological innovation plays a vital role in ensuring cleaning methods can be reliably compared across studies.

Nan Yang focused specifically on the reproducibility of fire-born soot creation for such mock-ups, contributing essential groundwork that supports all comparative cleaning studies within MOXY.

​Marta Cremonesi presented an innovative digital image analysis framework to evaluate surface cleaning results using ImageJ, enabling quantifiable, reproducible assessment of AO’s impact.​

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Together, these contributions affirmed MOXY’s central mission: to bring advanced, evidence-based plasma science into real-world conservation practice. In doing so, MOXY is helping to safeguard the material legacies of the past against the increasingly complex risks of the future.