In this work, the effects of crystalline structure of the TiO2, which is incorporated in fabrication of the n-type electrode, on the DSSC performance were investigated in terms of the energy conversion efficiency. In this effort, TiO2 nanoparticle pastes with varying contents of rutile and anatase structures were prepared by using the ethanol mixing method. The most efficient photo-electro-chemical performance was achieved for the DSSC fabricated with the TiO2 paste in which the anatase form of the nanocrystal extends to 90%.

The surface morphology of epitaxial Fe(001)/MgO(001)/Fe(001) magnetic tunnel junctions, which show the giant tunneling magnetoresistance effect, was investigated by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. It was observed that an epitaxial MgO barrier layer forms flat surface structures. The surface was flatter with distinct steps and terraces after annealing, which would lead to an increase of the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio. Examination of the local electronic structures of 1.05-nm-thick MgO barrier layers by scanning tunneling spectroscopy revealed no pinholes in the layers, so they would be perfect barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions.

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The effect of morphology modification using an amphiphilic polymer on the proton conductivity of composite membrane for a polymer membrane-based fuel cell was investigated. The proton conductivity of each composite membrane was analyzed by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The morphological change was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). In the composite membrane, the proton conductive component was sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (sPEEK), while the nonconductive component was poly(vinylidenedifluoride) and the amphiphilic polymer as a compatibilizer was urethane acrylate non-ionomer (UAN). UAN as a compatibilizer improved the interfacial stability between sPEEK and PVdF polymers, even though two polymers were apparently immiscible. The homogeneous distribution of sPEEK and PVdF domains in the composite membrane was obtained with the introduction of UAN due to the amphiphilicity. Therefore, it was found that the proton conductivity of the composite membrane increased with the incorporation of UAN as a compatibilizer.

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