The Research Probe

The Northern Philippines Business Research Conference is organized by College of Business Education, Northwestern University in Laoag City, Philippines. The NPBRC brings together academics and professionals from all business and economics disciplines to share latest research findings and brainstorm new research ideas across disciplines. It is a unique forum for researchers with cross-disciplinary interests to meet and interact. Research papers using theoretical, quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approaches are encouraged as are those using interdisciplinary approaches. Conference Scope NPBRC invites submission of academic and professional research papers/abstracts from the full range of business disciplines including, but not limited to: Economics; Accounting; Finance; Marketing; Management; and Business Ethics. The full details of the competition can be accessed here: https://www.nwu.edu.ph/npbrc.

The Research Probe (TRP) is a proceedings publication of institutional conferences and research competitions. It focuses on four broad themes: education and development studies; humanities and social sciences; science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and business, management and accounting. This publication provides a platform for experts and practitioners from various fields in the dissemination of their research works that address industry trends and needs, scientific findings and international concerns. Both the institutional conferences and proceedings publication promote a wider horizon for researchers through open-access paradigm. TRP publishes articles employing any of the various research methods and strategies. It accepts any specific topic within these broad subjects. It also encourages interdisciplinary articles that broadly discuss key topics relevant to the core scope of the journal.

The Research Probe (TRP) is a proceedings publication of institutional conferences and research competitions. It focuses on four broad themes: education and development studies; humanities and social sciences; science, technology, engineering and mathematics; and business, management and accounting. This publication provides a platform for experts and practitioners from various fields in the dissemination of their research works that address industry trends and needs, scientific findings and international concerns. Both the institutional conferences and proceedings publication promote a wider horizon for researchers through open-access paradigm. TRP publishes articles employing any of the various research methods and strategies. It accepts any specific topic within these broad subjects. It also encourages interdisciplinary articles that broadly discuss key topics relevant to the core scope of the journal.

Efficiency and life time of solar cells, energy and power density of the batteries, and costs of the fuel cells alike cannot be improved unless the complex electronic, optoelectronic, and ionic mechanisms underpinning operation of these materials and devices are understood on the nanometer level of individual defects. Only by probing these phenomena locally can we hope to link materials structure and functionality, thus opening pathway for predictive modeling and synthesis. While structures of these materials are now accessible on length scales from macroscopic to atomic, their functionality has remained Terra Incognitae. In this volume, we provide a summary of recent advances in scanning probe microscopy studies of local functionality of energy materials and devices ranging from photovoltaics to batteries, fuel cells, and energy harvesting systems. Recently emergent SPM modes and combined SPM-electron microscopy approaches are also discussed. Contributions by internationally renowned leaders in the field describe the frontiers in this important field.

Efficiency and life time of solar cells, energy and power density of the batteries, and costs of the fuel cells alike cannot be improved unless the complex electronic, optoelectronic, and ionic mechanisms underpinning operation of these materials and devices are understood on the nanometer level of individual defects. Only by probing these phenomena locally can we hope to link materials structure and functionality, thus opening pathway for predictive modeling and synthesis. While structures of these materials are now accessible on length scales from macroscopic to atomic, their functionality has remained Terra Incognitae. In this volume, we provide a summary of recent advances in scanning probe microscopy studies of local functionality of energy materials and devices ranging from photovoltaics to batteries, fuel cells, and energy harvesting systems. Recently emergent SPM modes and combined SPM-electron microscopy approaches are also discussed. Contributions by internationally renowned leaders in the field describe the frontiers in this important field. Contents:Introduction:Local Probes in the Next Decade of Energy Research: Bridging Macroscopic and Atomic Worlds (D A Bonnell and S V Kalinin)Scanning Probes for Energy Harvesting Systems: Photovoltaics and Solar Cells:Electrical Scanning Probe Microscopy on Solar Cell Materials (R Giridharagopal, G E Rayermann and D S Ginger)Organic Solar Cell Materials and Devices Characterized by Conductive and Photoconductive Atomic Force Microscopy (X-D Dang, M Guide and T-Q Nguyen)Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy for Solar Cell Applications (T Glatzel)Reversible Rectification in Sub-Monolayer Molecular P-N Junctions: Towards Nanoscale Photovoltaic Studies (J A Smerdon, N C Giebink and J R Guest)Study of Photoinduced Charges with Atomic Force Microscopy (M Dokukin, N Guz and I Sokolov)Imaging of Nanoscale Photogenerated Charge Transport in Organic Photovoltaic Materials (B Hamadani, P M Haney and N B Zhitenev)Photoassisted Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy for Characterization of Solar Cell Materials (T Takahashi)Scanning Probes for Fuel Cells and Local Electrochemistry:Electrochemical Strain Microscopy of Oxygen-Ion Conductors: Fuel Cells and Oxide Electronics (A Kumar, S Jesse, S V Kalinin, F Ciucci and A Morozovska)Ion Dynamics in Nanoscopic Subvolumes of Solid Electrolytes Analysed by Electrostatic Force Spectroscopy (A Schirmeisen and B Roling)Nanoscale Electrochemistry in Energy Related Systems Using Atomic Force Microscopy (W Lee, M H Lee, R P O'Hayre and F B Prinz)Scanning Probe Microscopy of Fuel Cell Materials Under Realistic Operating Conditions (S S Nonnenmann and D A Bonnell)Scanning Probe Microscopy of Energy Storage Materials and Devices:In situ SPM Analysis of Interfacial Phenomena in Lithium-Ion Batteries (M Inaba, S-K Jeong and Z Ogumi)Conducting-Probe Atomic Force Microscopy of Electrochemical Interfaces (P A Veneman and K J Stevenson)Electrochemical Strain Microscopy of Li-ion and Li-air Battery Materials (T M Arruda, N Balke, S Jesse and S V Kalinin)Emerging Scanning Probe Techniques:High Sensitivity Scanning Impedance Microscopy and Spectroscopy (S S Nonnenmann, X Chen and D A Bonnell)Scanning Microwave Microscopy: Advances in Quantitative Capacitance and Carrier Density Measurements at the Nanometer Scale (S Wu, F Kienberger and H Tanbakuchi)Mapping Electrochemistry at the Micro and Nanoscales with Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy (C Laslau, D E Williams and J Travas-Sejdic)Force Microscopy, Nanochemistry and Nanofabrication (R Garcia, M Chiesa and Y K Ryu)Studying the Mechanism of Piezoelectric Nanogenerators (J Song and Z L Wang) Readership: Students, professionals and researchers in materials science, nanomaterials and new materials. Keywords:Energy Materials;Scanning Probe Microscopy;Fuel Cells;Photovoltaics;Batteries;Solar CellsKey Features:A first broad overview of SPM for energy materials and devicesWritten by world leaders in scanning probe microscopyContains both applications of established SPM techniques as well as overview of novel emergent methods and addresses applications in all major arenas of energy: alternative energy generation, energy harvesting, and storage

The Advanced Study Institute provided an opportunity for researchers in universities, industry and National and International Laboratories, from the disciplines ofmaterials science, physics, chemistry and engineering to meet together in an assessment of the impact of electron and scanning probe microscopy on advanced material research. Since these researchers have traditionally relied upon different approaches, due to their different scientific background, to advanced materials problem solving, presentations and discussion within the Institute sessions were initially devoted to developing a set ofmutually understood basic concepts, inherently related to different techniques ofcharacterization by microscopy and spectroscopy. Particular importance was placed on Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS), Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM), High Resolution Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscopy (HRTEM, HRSTEM) and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM). It was recognized that the electronic structure derived directly from EELS analysis as well as from atomic positions in HRTEM or High Angle Annular Dark Field STEM can be used to understand the macroscopic behaviour of materials. The emphasis, however, was upon the analysis of the electronic band structure of grain boundaries, fundamental for the understanding of macroscopic quantities such as strength, cohesion, plasticity, etc.

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