The layered perovskite oxide, GdSr₂MnCrO₇, has been prepared by the standard ceramic method. The powder X-ray diffraction studies suggest that the phase crystallizes with tetragonal unit cell in the space group 𝐼4/𝑚𝑚𝑚. The electrical transport properties show that the phase is an electrical insulator and the electrical conduction in the phase occurs by a 3D variable range hopping mechanism. The magnetic properties suggest that the ferromagnetic interactions are dominant in the high temperature region.

A polyaniline (PANI)-based TiO₂-sensitized polymeric active layer was synthesized via an in situ polymerization technique in the presence of ammonium persulphate (APS as the oxidizer) for its use in hybrid solar cell application. TiO₂-sensitized tubular PANI nanocomposites with an average diameter of ∼50 nm proved to be very efficient for optimizing the optical band gap so as to absorb the maximum solar spectrum. The synergistic combination of PANI–TiO₂ (4%) featured the maximum current for varying concentrations of TiO₂ towards current–voltage (I –V ) and cyclic voltammetry measurements. Further, the thermal stability was markedly enhanced by incorporating TiO₂ nanoparticles into the polymer matrix as compared to pure PANI.