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One of the critical components of energy savings in buildings is thermal insulation, especially for windows in cold climates. The conventional approach mainly relies on a double-pane design. In this study, a new concept of “Green Window” has been designed for single-pane applications that lower the U-factor. The “Green Window” is structurally and simply composed of a thin film window coating of chlorophyll that exhibits pronounced photothermal effect, while remaining highly transparent. We demonstrate a new concept in “thermal insulation” via optical means instead of solely through thermal insulators or spectral selectivity. This concept lifts the dependence on insulating materials making single-pane window highly possible.more » « less
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Abstract Pulmonary vascular disease encompasses a wide range of serious afflictions with important clinical implications. There is critical need for the development of efficient, nonviral gene therapy delivery systems. Here, a promising avenue to overcome critical issues in efficient cell targeting within the lung via a uniquely designed nanosystem is reported. Polyplexes are created by functionalizing hyperbranched polyethylenimine (PEI) with biological fatty acids and carboxylate‐terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) through a one‐pot 1‐ethyl‐3‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride/
N ‐hydroxysuccinimide reaction. Following intravenous injection, polyplexes show an exceptionally high specificity to the pulmonary microvascular endothelium, allowing for the successful delivery of stabilized enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) expressing messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). It is further shown, quantitatively, that positive surface charge is the main mechanism behind such high targeting efficiency for these polyplexes. Live in vivo imaging, flow cytometry of single cell suspensions, and confocal microscopy are used to demonstrate that positive polyplexes are enriched in the lung tissue and disseminated in 85–90% of the alveolar capillary endothelium, whilst being sparse in large vessels. Charge modification, achieved through poly(acrylic acid) or heparin coating, drives a highly significant reduction in both targeting percentage and targeting strength, highlighting the importance of specific surface charge, derived from chemical formulation, for efficient targeting of the pulmonary microvascular endothelium.