Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) remain attractive as low-cost photovoltaic devices; however, their practical efficiency is still constrained by electron-transport losses, interfacial recombination, and incomplete light harvesting in conventional titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photoanodes. The effects of TiO₂ film thickness, multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) incorporation, and multilayer oxide interface engineering on DSSC performance were examined. Degussa P25-TiO₂ photoanodes were first optimized with respect to thickness, after which controlled MWCNT loadings and sequential compact sol–gel TiO₂ and tin dioxide (SnO₂) sublayers were introduced. The optimum pristine P25-TiO₂ photoanode thickness was 9.11 μm, yielding an open-circuit voltage of 0.74 ± 0.01 V, a short-circuit current density of 14.10 ± 0.40 mA/cm², a fill factor of 56.24 ± 1.00%, and a power-conversion efficiency of 5.93 ± 0.20%. The incorporation of 0.025 wt% MWCNTs increased the efficiency to 6.04 ± 0.20%, corresponding to an absolute gain of 0.11 percentage points. The best performance was obtained with the sol–gel SnO₂/sol–gel TiO₂/P25-CNT multilayer photoanode, which delivered 0.74 ± 0.02 V, 16.22 ± 0.40 mA/cm², 57.59 ± 1.00%, and 6.89 ± 0.30%, respectively. FE-SEM, EIS, XRD, Heated Ultrasonic Cleaner and UV–visible analyses indicate that the multilayer architecture preserves porosity, enhances light harvesting, and suppresses interfacial recombination, while the CNT network facilitates charge transport.

Drawing on mobile foot reflexology in Taiwan, this article examines innovation readiness in small-scale wellness services where formal R&D resources, standardized workstations, and organizational support systems are limited. It conceptualizes readiness as a staged service-design condition comprising problem-recognition readiness, practitioner-agency readiness, co-creation readiness, and implementation-fit readiness. The empirical design integrated workplace observation, a survey of 59 therapists, semi-structured interviews with 10 therapists, expert consultation with 7 specialists, and two rounds of prototype evaluation (n = 17 and n = 19). Rather than treating ergonomic symptoms as an isolated occupational health outcome, the analysis traces how discomfort, posture constraints, psychosocial resources, practitioner narratives, and expert judgment were translated into design parameters and two chair prototypes for mobile service delivery. Three cross-phase mechanisms emerged: constraint visibility, practitioner-mediated translation, and implementation-fit testing. Shoulder, wrist/hand, and low-back discomfort signaled unresolved operational friction; high meaning and competence scores pointed to a practitioner resource base for adaptive participation; and staged prototype testing identified portability, adjustability, stability, and bodily comfort as the central adoption conditions. The article contributes to Administrative Sciences by showing that grassroots service innovation readiness is not simply an attitudinal state but an enacted process through which field constraints are made visible, jointly interpreted, and converted into a deployable service-support solution. Beyond this case, the staged readiness logic may also inform mobile wellness, community-care, rehabilitation-support, personal-care, and other low-resource service organizations that must convert frontline constraints into feasible service-support interventions.