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Heritage
Special Issues
Innovative Materials and Tools for the Cleaning of Cultural Heritage
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Innovative Materials and Tools for the Cleaning of Cultural Heritage

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2026) | Viewed by 3171

Editors

Dr. Dominique Scalarone

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 7, 10125 Torino, Italy
Interests: sustainable conservation strategies; protective coatings; characterization of organic artistic materials; degradation studies
Dr. Antonio Sansonetti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Heritage Science CNR, Milan, Italy
Interests: cleaning consolidation and protection of heritage objects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the field of cultural heritage conservation, surface cleaning is one of the most critical and important operations. It not only creates a new appearance for artworks, it also allows for effective conservation, preventing further deterioration caused by deposits of extraneous substances or alterations of the surface itself. The variety of unwanted materials adds complexity to the cleaning process, ranging from common particulate matter, soot, and soluble salts to wax, aged varnishes, adhesives, protective coatings, and many others. An appropriate cleaning method requires selection and control, effectively removing unwanted materials while preserving the integrity of the original surface. Additionally, modern conservation practices demand eco-compatibility, economic sustainability, and non-toxicity.

Recent advancements have led to the development and testing of innovative materials and tools for cleaning artworks, such as green solvents, gels, nanostructured fluids, enzymes, chelants, laser technology, etc. These innovations aim to establish more effective, controllable, and feasible cleaning processes, with encouraging results showing the rapid progress in this area.

This Special Issue invites original research studies and review papers on innovative materials and tools for the cleaning of cultural heritage, providing insights into the development, validation, and testing of these new materials and methods.

Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Synthesis of innovative cleaning materials;
  • Green approach and strategies;
  • Analytical validation of new cleaning methods;
  • Comparative studies of cleaning methodologies;
  • Sustainable cleaning protocols;
  • Innovative methods for monitoring the cleaning results;
  • Case studies;

We look forward to receiving your original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Dominique Scalarone
Dr. Antonio Sansonetti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • green materials
  • sustainability
  • cleaning effectiveness
  • cleaning monitoring
  • non-contact cleaning
  • laser
  • gels
  • emulsions

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

33 pages, 1758 KB  
Article
PVA–Borax Double-Network Gels for Sustainable and Selective Cleaning of Highly Textured Street and Urban Murals
by Michela Renna, Sara De Angelis, Giancarlo Sidoti and Paola Mezzadri
Heritage 2026, 9(7), 262; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9070262 - 6 Jul 2026
Abstract
The removal of spray paint vandalism from contemporary mural paintings and Street and Urban Art represents one of the most challenging operations in conservation practice, particularly when the unwanted layers are chemically similar to the original pictorial materials. Conventional cleaning methodologies often show [...] Read more.
The removal of spray paint vandalism from contemporary mural paintings and Street and Urban Art represents one of the most challenging operations in conservation practice, particularly when the unwanted layers are chemically similar to the original pictorial materials. Conventional cleaning methodologies often show limitations on rough and heterogeneous surfaces, where the risk of irreversible alteration of the original paint film increases. This study proposes tunable cleaning systems based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)–borax double-network hydrogels modified with biopolymers and loaded with nanostructured fluids for controlled and sustainable removal of spray-paint vandalism. Laboratory investigations, including solubility tests, qualitative assessment of mechanical properties and cleaning trials on representative mock-ups, were carried out to evaluate the stability, adaptability and cleaning performance of the most promising systems, including laboratory-prepared PVA-based formulations and commercial Peggy Nanorestore gels©. The optimized cleaning systems were successfully applied in situ on the mural Nido di Vespe in Rome, achieving a controlled reduction of the vandalism layer while preserving the integrity of the original surface and confirming the applicability of these systems under real conservation conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Materials and Tools for the Cleaning of Cultural Heritage)
19 pages, 2182 KB  
Article
One Bacterium, Dual Conservation Strategy: Towards the Sequential Biocleaning and Biocementation of Heritage Brick Masonry Structures by Stutzerimonas stutzeri
by Ana Tomić, Tiana Milović, Miroslav Dramićanin, Sabina Kovač, Marko Radenković, Luka Mejić and Olja Šovljanski
Heritage 2026, 9(5), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9050170 - 30 Apr 2026
Viewed by 697
Abstract
The integration of salt removal and structural consolidation remains a major challenge in heritage brick conservation. This research proposes a preliminary experimental setup for a dual-function microbial strategy using a single bacterium, Stutzerimonas stutzeri D1, capable of sequential denitrification (biocleaning) and ureolysis-driven microbially [...] Read more.
The integration of salt removal and structural consolidation remains a major challenge in heritage brick conservation. This research proposes a preliminary experimental setup for a dual-function microbial strategy using a single bacterium, Stutzerimonas stutzeri D1, capable of sequential denitrification (biocleaning) and ureolysis-driven microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (biocementation). After the pre-check assessment, which compared standalone, simultaneous, and sequential metabolic configurations, sequential denitrification followed by ureolysis (A→B) optimized functional compatibility, achieving 90.1% nitrate removal within 48 h and the highest precipitation rate during the biocementation phase. Application on authentic demolition waste (solid fired-clay brick specimens) demonstrated highly efficient nitrate reduction, alkalization (from pH value of 6.4 to 9.12), surface mineral deposition confirmed by visual inspection, SEM imaging, and XRD analysis. Furthermore, reduced water absorption (by 30%) and improved compressive strength (by 25%) for only 72 h of this dual treatment indicate a promising and holistic approach in the field of construction biotechnology of heritage brick conservation. These pioneer findings demonstrate that metabolic sequencing governs compatibility in dual-function bacterial systems and validate a sustainable, single-strain platform for combined biocleaning and biocementation of historic brick masonry structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Materials and Tools for the Cleaning of Cultural Heritage)
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16 pages, 2979 KB  
Article
Non-Invasive Assessment of Water-Based Gel Cleaning on a Capogrossi Oil Painting Using NMR-MOUSE
by Noemi Proietti, Patrizia Moretti, Eleonora Maniccia, Paola Carnazza, Daphne De Luca, Costanza Miliani and Valeria Di Tullio
Heritage 2026, 9(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage9010030 - 15 Jan 2026
Viewed by 923
Abstract
This study investigates water-based gel and gel-like cleaning treatments on Superficie 553, an oil painting on canvas by Giuseppe Capogrossi, using portable NMR to assess their impact. The objective was to evaluate the effects of four cleaning systems composed of a buffer [...] Read more.
This study investigates water-based gel and gel-like cleaning treatments on Superficie 553, an oil painting on canvas by Giuseppe Capogrossi, using portable NMR to assess their impact. The objective was to evaluate the effects of four cleaning systems composed of a buffer solution released in free form and combined with xanthan gum, a cross-linked silicone polymer gel, and an agar gel matrix. Two distinct NMR experiments were conducted. The first involved the acquisition of 1H depth profiles to detect the distribution of the cleaning solution within the painted layer and the thickness variations resulting from cleaning procedures. The second employed the acquisition of relaxation times, facilitating the investigation of molecular mobility within the organic components of the paint layer. NMR results indicated that the agar gel system caused negligible structural changes, whereas the silicone gel induced rigidification, and the other systems permanently increased molecular mobility. These measurements provided insights into alterations in the dynamic behavior of the polymerized oil. A key strength of this investigation lies in the direct application of diagnostic methods on Superficie 553, made possible by the non-invasive nature and portability of the NMR-MOUSE system. Additionally, portable FTIR was used to detect residues and obtain chemical information, confirming that the silicone gel left detectable residues and identifying the agar gel as the most conservative cleaning method. This enabled in situ analysis of the original artwork without sampling or relocation—a crucial advantage given the difficulty of replicating the complex physicochemical conditions of historical paint surfaces under laboratory constraints. Such real-time, on-site monitoring ensured an authentic evaluation of the treatment effects, preserving the integrity of the artwork throughout the conservation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Materials and Tools for the Cleaning of Cultural Heritage)
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