Since poor air quality affects human health in the short and long term, much research has been performed on indoor and outdoor aerosol exposure; however, there is a lack of specific data on the exposure and health risks of inhalable aerosols that contain bioaerosol in different environments of human life. To investigate the potential exposure to inhalable aerosols (in the monitoring of particulate matter (PM) based on R modeling, variations of PM depend on the ventilation system and bioaerosols based on size distribution) in various environments, the special viability and culturability of bioaerosols and their deposition doses in the respiratory system were evaluated. We conducted exposure assessments on inhalable aerosols in various indoor environments (childcare facilities, schools, commercial buildings, elderly and homes). The fractions of PM (PM₁₀, PM₄ and PM_2.5) were investigated and, for the bioaerosol, the viability, culturability, inhalation daily dose and the deposited dose of the aerosol in the respiratory system were calculated to evaluate the human health effects. For two years, the distribution of the indoor PM concentration was high in all PM fractions in schools and commercial buildings, and low in the elderly and at homes. For airborne bacteria, the highest concentrations were shown in the childcare facility during the four seasons, while airborne fungi showed high concentrations in the buildings during the spring and summer, which showed significant differences from other investigated environments (between the buildings and elderly and homes: p < 0.05). The viability and culturability for the bioaerosol showed no significant difference in all environments, and the correlation between inhalable PM and bioaerosol obtained from the six-stage impactor showed that the coefficient of determination (R²) between coarse particles (PM_10–2.5, the size of stage 2–3) and cultivable airborne bacteria ranged from 0.70 (elderly and homes) to 0.84 (school) during the summer season.

A simple and effective oxygen plasma treatment on low-temperature deposited SnO₂ electron transport layer was demonstrated.

The lithographic process for flexible transparent electrodes is essential for constructing wearable optoelectronic devices with a well-defined active area. Although photolithography is a well-established patterning process, and can generate small features, it involves toxic materials and high processing cost. Herein, we introduce a novel lithographic process for both silver nanowire (AgNW)-embedded and AgNW-exposed flexible transparent electrodes. We selectively control the adhesion between AgNWs and the substrate via a local surface treatment with ultraviolet/ozone (UV/ozone), oxygen plasma, and atmosphere plasma. Since strong adhesion leads to retention of AgNWs on the substrate during embedding of AgNWs in a UV-curable polymer, selective control of adhesion induces selective embedding of AgNWs, generating AgNW-embedded and AgNW-exposed transparent electrodes with desirable patterns. Additionally, this process is versatile enough to be applicable to various substrates including poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-coated surfaces, poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films, and acrylic substrates, and various AgNWs with different surface energies. The critical work of adhesion to successfully pattern AgNW-based transparent electrodes is experimentally obtained. Conclusively, we demonstrate that patterning of AgNW-based electrodes by controlling the work of adhesion is economical and eco-friendly, and can be successfully applied for designing various optoelectronic devices such as organic photovoltaic cells and liquid crystal cells.

Charge transport layers have been found to be crucial for high-performance perovskite solar cells (PSCs). SnO₂ has been extensively investigated as an alternative material for the traditional TiO₂ electron transport layer (ETL). The challenges facing the successful application of SnO₂ ETLs are degradation during the high-temperature process and voltage loss due to the lower conduction band. To achieve highly efficient PSCs using a SnO₂ ETL, low-temperature-processed mesoporous TiO₂ (LT m-TiO₂) was combined with compact SnO₂ to construct a bilayer ETL. The use of LT m-TiO₂ can prevent the degradation of SnO₂ as well as enlarge the interfacial contacts between the light-absorbing layer and the ETL. SnO₂/TiO₂ bilayer-based PSCs showed much higher power conversion efficiency than single SnO₂ ETL-based PSCs.

This paper introduces a new fibrous system for synergistic cancer therapy, which consists of gold nanocage (AuNC)-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers with encapsulation of a chemotherapeutic anticancer drug in their core and loading of a phase-changeable fatty acid in their sheath. Under on–off switching of near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the excellent photothermal ability and photostability of AuNCs allows repeated, significant heating of the fibers to a temperature available to hyperthermia. Simultaneously, the NIR light-induced heat generation enables the melting out of the loaded fatty acid, leading to a rapid release of the drug molecules from the fibers. The combination of this NIR light-triggered drug release with the repeated hyperthermia treatment exhibits excellent anticancer efficacy.