Research on Using K-Means Clustering to Explore High-Risk Products with Ethylene Oxide Residues and Their Manufacturers in Taiwan.

Considering the frequency of ethylene oxide (EtO) residues found in food, the health effects of EtO have become a concern. Between 2022 and 2023, 489 products were inspected using the purposive sampling method in Taiwan, and nine unqualified products were found to have been imported; subsequently, border control measures were enhanced. To ensure the safety of all imported foods, the current study used the K-means clustering method for identifying EtO residues in food.

Application and effectiveness of artificial intelligence for the border management of imported frozen fish in Taiwan.

In Taiwan, the number of applications for inspecting imported food has grown annually and noncompliant products must be accurately detected in these border sampling inspections. Previously, border management has used an automated border inspection system (import food inspection (IFI) system) to select batches via a random sampling method to manage the risk levels of various food products complying with regulatory inspection procedures. Several countries have implemented artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve domestic governmental processes, social service, and public feedback.

Prioritization of pesticides in crops with a semi-quantitative risk ranking method for Taiwan postmarket monitoring program.

A risk-based prioritization of chemical hazards in monitoring programs allows regulatory agencies to focus on the most potentially concerned items involving human health risk. In this study, a risk-based matrix, with a scoring method using multiple factors for severity and probability of exposure, was employed to identify the pesticides presented in crops that may pose the greatest risk to human health. Both the probability of exposure and the severity were assessed for 91 pesticides detected in a Taiwanese postmarketing monitoring program.

Effect of Fullerene Passivation on the Charging and Discharging Behavior of Perovskite Solar Cells: Reduction of Bound Charges and Ion Accumulation.

Ion accumulation of organometal halide perovskites (OHPs) induced by electrode polarization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) under illumination has been intensely studied and associated with a widely observed current-voltage hysteresis behavior. This work is dedicated to the investigation of the behavior of charged species at the compact TiO/OHP interface with respect to electrode polarization in PSC devices. By providing a comprehensive discussion of open-circuit voltage ( V) buildup and V decay under illumination and in the dark for the PSCs modified with [6,6]-phenyl-C butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) at the TiO/OHP interface and their corresponding electrochemical impedance spectroscopies (EISs), a justified mechanism is proposed attempting to elucidate the dynamics of interfacial species with respect to the time and frequency domains.

Amino-Acid-Induced Preferential Orientation of Perovskite Crystals for Enhancing Interfacial Charge Transfer and Photovoltaic Performance.

Interfacial engineering of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is attracting intensive attention owing to the charge transfer efficiency at an interface, which greatly influences the photovoltaic performance. This study demonstrates the modification of a TiO electron-transporting layer with various amino acids, which affects charge transfer efficiency at the TiO /CH NH PbI interface in PSC, among which the l-alanine-modified cell exhibits the best power conversion efficiency with 30% enhancement. This study also shows that the (110) plane of perovskite crystallites tends to align in the direction perpendicular to the amino-acid-modified TiO as observed in grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering of thin CH NH PbI perovskite film.

Near-Infrared-Absorbing and Dopant-Free Heterocyclic Quinoid-Based Hole-Transporting Materials for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells.

New heterocyclic quinoid-based hole transporting materials (HTMs) with a rigid quinoid core [3,6-di(2H-imidazol-2-ylidene)cyclohexa-1,4-diene] have been synthesized. The new HTMs have good hole mobility (>10  cm  V  s ) and very intense absorption in the near-infrared region extending to >800 nm. High performance perovskite solar cells can be fabricated using these HTMs without dopant.

Effects of tethering alkyl chains for amphiphilic ruthenium complex dyes on their adsorption to titanium oxide and photovoltaic properties.

Ruthenium (II) complex dye, Ru(4,4'-dicarboxyl-2,2'-bipyridine)(4-nonyl-2,2'-bipyridine) (NCS)(2), (denoted as RuC9) tethering single alkyl chain was synthesized and well characterized. Its adsorption behavior onto the mesoporous TiO(2) and photovoltaic properties were compared with Z907 which has similar chemical structure but tethers two alkyl chains. RuC9 dyes tend to aggregate into vesicles in the acetonitrile/t-butanol co-solvent as a result of the amphiphilic structure, whereas Z907 dyes aggregate into lamellae.

Photovoltaic properties of dye-sensitized solar cells associated with amphiphilic structure of ruthenium complex dyes.

Photovoltaic properties of Ru(2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-bicarboxylic acid)(4,4'-bis(11-dodecenyl)-2,2'-bipyridine)(NCS)(2) (denoted as Ru-C) related to its adsorption behavior onto the mesoporous titanium oxide (TiO(2)) were investigated in association with its amphiphilic structure compared with those of Ru(4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine)(2)(NCS)(2) (commonly known as N3 dye). Both dyes tended to aggregate and form vesicles in their acetonitrile/tert-butanol solutions. As the vesicles were adsorbed to TiO(2), the dyes which did not participate in bonding to TiO(2) would re-dissolve into the solution and create the voids on the surface of TiO(2).

Gelation of ionic liquid with exfoliated montmorillonite nanoplatelets and its application for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells.

The exfoliated montmorillonite (exMMT) nanoplatelets that carry negative charges are capable of adsorbing 1-methyl-3-propyl-imidazolium cations to form a gel-type ionic liquid-based electrolyte system for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Interestingly, it also increases the power conversion efficiency of DSSC from 6.58% to 7.