In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has been galvanized to unravel the enigmatic role of bioaerosols in the transmission of infectious agents. This literature review, anchored in the extensive Web of Science Core Collection database covering the period from 1990 to 2023, utilizes a bibliometric approach to chart the dynamic landscape of bioaerosol research. It meticulously documents the paradigm shifts and burgeoning areas of inquiry that have emerged in the aftermath of the pandemic. This review meticulously maps out the sources and detection strategies of pathogens in a variety of ecosystems. It clearly shows that impaction and filtration sampling methods, followed by colony counting and PCR-based detection techniques, were predominantly used in the scientific works within the previous three decades. It synthesizes the progress and limitations inherent in a range of models for predicting aerosol-mediated pathogen spread and provides a comparative analysis of eDNA technology and traditional analytical techniques for bioaerosols. The accuracy of these detection methods and forecasting models is paramount for the early recognition of transmission risks, which, in turn, paves the way for prompt and effective disease mitigation strategies. By providing a thorough analysis of the historical progression and current state of bioaerosol research, this review illuminates the path ahead, identifying the critical research needs that will drive the field’s advancement in the years to come.

Constructing heterojunction photocatalysts with efficient interfacial charge transfer is critical for solar-driven hydrogen evolution. In this study, a highly dispersed MoS₂/g-C₃N₄ composite was successfully synthesized via a stirring-assisted hydrothermal in situ growth strategy. The introduction of stirring during synthesis significantly enhanced the uniform dispersion of MoS₂ nanosheets and exposed abundant edge sites, leading to well-integrated heterojunctions with enhanced interfacial contact. Comprehensive structural and photoelectronic characterizations (XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS mapping, UV–Vis, TRPL, EIS, EPR) confirmed that the composite exhibited improved visible-light absorption, accelerated charge separation, and suppressed recombination. Under simulated solar irradiation with triethanolamine (TEOA) as a sacrificial agent, the optimized 24% MoS₂/g-C₃N₄-S catalyst achieved a high hydrogen evolution rate of 14.33 mmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹ at a catalyst loading of 3.2 mg, significantly outperforming the unstirred and pristine components, and demonstrating excellent cycling stability. Mechanistic studies revealed that the performance enhancement is attributed to the synergistic effects of Type-II heterojunction formation and edge-site-rich MoS₂ co-catalysis. This work provides a scalable approach for non-noble metal interface engineering and offers insight into the design of efficient and durable photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production.

Defect engineering in semiconductor heterojunctions offers a promising route for enhancing the selectivity of photocatalytic CO₂ conversion. In this work, a ZnS/gel-derived TiO₂ photocatalyst featuring sulfur vacancies introduced via hydrazine hydrate (N₂H₄) treatment is developed. XRD, HRTEM, and XPS analyses confirm the formation of a crystalline heterointerface and a defect-rich ZnS surface, enabling effective interfacial electronic modulation. The optimized ZnS/gel-derived TiO₂-0.48 composite achieves CH₄ and CO yields of 6.76 and 14.47 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹, respectively, with a CH₄ selectivity of 31.8% and an electron selectivity of 65.1%, clearly outperforming pristine TiO₂ and the corresponding single-component catalysts under identical conditions. Photoluminescence quenching, enhanced photocurrent response, and reduced charge-transfer resistance indicate significantly improved interfacial charge separation. Mott–Schottky analysis combined with optical bandgap measurements reveals pronounced interfacial charge redistribution in the composite system. Considering the intrinsic band structure of ZnS and gel-derived TiO₂, a Z-scheme-compatible interfacial charge migration model is proposed, in which photogenerated electrons with strong reductive power are preferentially retained on ZnS, while holes with strong oxidative capability remain on gel-derived TiO₂. This charge migration pathway preserves high redox potentials, facilitating multi-electron CO₂ methanation and water oxidation. Density functional theory calculations further demonstrate that sulfur vacancies stabilize *COOH and *CO intermediates and reduce the energy barrier for *COOH formation from +0.51 eV to +0.21 eV, thereby promoting CO₂ activation and CH₄ formation. These results reveal that sulfur vacancies not only activate CO₂ molecules but also regulate interfacial charge migration behavior. This work provides a synergistic strategy combining defect engineering and interfacial electronic modulation to enhance selectivity and mechanistic understanding in CO₂-to-CH₄ photoconversion.

CO₂ photoreduction into valuable hydrocarbons, such as CO, CH₄, and C₂H₄, delivers a promising approach to address both environmental and energy challenges. Transition metal chalcogenides, particularly cadmium sulfide (CdS), have emerged as prominent candidates due to their tunable electronic properties and availability. This study delves into a comprehensive investigation of how CdS crystalline facets and sulfur-deficient surfaces modulate the product selectivity. Through employing density functional theory (DFT), we unravel the catalytic performance of various CdS crystal orientations and sulfur vacancy configurations. The results have shown that different CdS facets exhibit unique electronic characteristics and surface energetics, which influence the adsorption dynamics and reaction pathways. The introduction of sulfur vacancies further modulates the nature of active sites, leading to substantial shifts in product selectivity. A detailed investigation on the reaction mechanisms unveils that specific facets preferentially facilitate the formation of CO, while others are more conducive to the generation of hydrocarbons such as CH₄ and C₂H₄, due to the variations in activation barriers and intermediate stabilities. These findings underscore the importance of crystal facet engineering and defect manipulation in tailoring catalyst performance thus providing valuable insights for the rational design of efficient and selective CO₂ reduction metal catalysts.

Engineering phase-selective gel composites presents a promising route to enhance both CO₂ adsorption and conversion efficiency in photocatalytic systems. In this work, Cu₉S₅/TiO₂ gel composites were synthesized via a hydrazine-hydrate-assisted hydrothermal method, using TiO₂ derived from a microwave-assisted sol–gel process. The resulting materials exhibit a porous gel-derived morphology with highly dispersed Cu₉S₅ nanocrystals, as confirmed by XRD, TEM, and XPS analyses. These structural features promote abundant surface-active sites and interfacial contact, enabling efficient CO₂ adsorption. Among all samples, the optimized 0.36Cu₉S₅/TiO₂ composite achieved a methane production rate of 34 μmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹, with 64.76% CH₄ selectivity and 88.02% electron-based selectivity, significantly outperforming Cu₉S₈/TiO₂ synthesized without hydrazine hydrate. This enhancement is attributed to the dual role of hydrazine: facilitating phase transformation from Cu₉S₈ to Cu₉S₅ and modulating the interfacial electronic environment to favor CO₂ capture and activation. DFT calculations reveal that Cu₉S₅/TiO₂ effectively lowers the energy barriers of critical intermediates (*COOH, *CO, and *CHO), enhancing both CO₂ adsorption strength and subsequent conversion to methane. This work demonstrates a gel-derived composite strategy that couples efficient CO₂ adsorption with selective photocatalytic reduction, offering new design principles for adsorption–conversion hybrid materials.

Different types of porous materials have been developed for the efficient separation of CO₂ from mixtures of gases. Nevertheless, the most porous materials cannot be used for extensive industrial applications due to their non-negligible disadvantages, such as complex synthesis routes, expensive monomers, and/or costly catalysts. Therefore, a strategy for fabricating a series of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-based porous organic polymer materials (PBPOPs) was developed through the simple condensation reaction of octaphenylsilsesquioxane and different bromine-containing monomers. It was found that PBPOP-2 exhibits the best CO₂ adsorption amount of 41 cm³·g⁻¹ at 273 K and 760 mmHg based on the accessible specific surface area, large pore volumes, and accessible pore sizes. Furthermore, PBPOP-2 exhibits efficient CO₂/N₂ selectivity and complete regeneration under mild conditions, which demonstrates the potential for the selective separation of CO₂ from gas mixtures. This work provides a new route to developing POSS-based POPs for CO₂-capture applications.