Lithium insertion behaviours of Li_1+xV₃O₈ and its modified oxides were examined. Li₄V₃O₈ phase was formed at x = 1.5 in Li_1+xV₃O₈ and had smaller insertion rate of lithium. Modification of VO₅ unit in the layer and neighboring octahedral Li⁺ ions in the interlayer affected the formation of Li₄V₃O₈ phase. Lattice disorder and layer stacking of the mother oxide also influenced the insertion behavior of Li₄V₃O₈ phase.

The electrochemical properties of the self-assembled monolayers of a tetrathiafulvalenyl-alkane monothiol (1) and the ether-substituted alkane monothiol (1-O) adsorbed onto gold electrodes showed no difference in their redox potentials and surface coverages. In contrast, the difference between the alkyl chain and the oxy-alkyl chain in the redox potentials and surface coverages was found in the self-assembled monolayers and the electropolymerized films of the tetrathiafulvalenyl-tetrathiol (2) and the ether-substituted tetrathiol (2-O) adsorbed onto gold electrodes.

A chemical etching technique was used as a pretreatment of commercially available 8 mol % yittria stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) electrolyte to improve solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance. It was found that the etching rate of the 8YSZ increased linearly with increases in hydrofluoric acid (HF) concentrations. Increasing the temperature of both a HF solution and a HF + HC1 (hydrochloric acid) solution accelerated the etching rate. Cell performance was improved not only by thinning the electrolyte but also by improved electrode performance, especially for the lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) + YSZ composite cathode. An electrode kinetics analysis and scanning electron microscope (SEM) results suggest that this improved electrode performance was due to increases in three phase boundary (TPB) area.

The charge-transport properties of polythionine film were studied by cyclic voltammetry and ac impedance spectroscopy. The redox reaction of polythionine proceeded by a two-electron, two-proton transfer mechanism. Both the low-frequency resistance and the low-frequency capacitance obtained from the ac impedance response were proportional to the film thickness. The former showed a minimum, and the latter showed a maximum, at the half-wave potential. The coupled diffusion coefficient of electrons and protons also showed a maximum at the half-wave potential. This relationship between the oxidation level and the diffusion coefficient indicated that the rate of charge transport in the film may be controlled by electron transport. A decrease in the diffusion coefficient with increasing pH implied 1electron hopping accompanied with intermolecular proton exchange.

Hydrogen sensing properties and mechanism of Nb₂O₅ varistors mixed with Bi₂O₃ (0-16.7 mol %) were investigated in the H₂ concentration range of 0.2-2.0 % at 400-700 °C. Pure Nb₂O₅ showed higher breakdown voltage and higher sensitivity of 1,200 V mm⁻¹ to 2.0 % H₂ at 400 °C than the ZnO- and SnO²-based varistors reported before. The H₂ sensitive properties of a Nb₂O₅ varistor were improved by the addition of Bi₂O₃ up to 5.0 mol % and the Nb₂O₅ varistor mixed with 1.0 mol % Bi₂O₃ exhibited the highest sensitivity at 400 °C among the varistors tested. However, further addition of Bi₂O₃ resulted in significant deterioration of the sensitivity. The addition of Bi₂O₃ 1ed to a slight decrease in the grain size, a change in shape of Nb₂O₅ particles and formation of Bi₂Nb₁₀-O₂₈ the surface of Nb₂O₅ particles. A.c. impedance measurement was performed to investigate the electric and electrochemical properties of the varistols. Resistances of the Nb₂O₅-Bi₂O₃ varistors were decomposed into four components, (i) bulk resistance (R₀), (ii) grain boundary resistance (R₁), (iii) resistance of oxide ion conduction (R2) and (iv) electrode-oxide interface resistance (R3). The R₁, R₂ and R₃ decreased drastically with increasing H2 concentration, while R₀ remained almost unchanged at 400 °C. Further studies have confirmed that R₁ mainly dominated the breakdown voltage of the Nb₂O₅-Bi₂O₃ varistors, and then the change in the potential barrier height per grainboundary determined the magnitude of the H₂-induced shift in the breakdown voltage.

Electron beam deposited tin oxide thin films were studied for use as a negative electrode for lithium rechargeable battery. Tin oxide thin films prepared at different heat treatment conditions (temperature and time) were investigated by the implementation of X-ray diffraction analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Charge/discharge performance of these thin films, typically exhibiting capacities higher than 300 mAh/g lasting beyond 100 cycles, were found to depend on the heat treatment temperatures, which influence the structure, grain sizes, and adhesion to the substrate. Capacity was decreased as film thickness increased, but capacity loss was very small in accordance with increase of charge/discharge rate. Using AC impedance analysis, it was found that capacity loss was caused by resistance increase at cut off voltage under 0.1 V. Lithiated SnO₂/PAN/V₂O₅ type full cell showed the capacity of 200 mAh/g, with active voltage of 2.0-2.7 V.

Graphitic carbon nanotubes were prepared by the decomposition of CH₄ over the Ni catalysts and the anodic properties of the obtained tubular graphite for Li-ion rechargeable battery were investigated. The Li intercalation capacity increased, however, the reversible intercalation capacity was decreased with increasing graphitic nanotube surface area. Graphitic tubes prepared at 973 K exhibited almost the theoretical Li intercalation capacity. In addition, it was found that a post annealing treatment of the graphite tube was effective for improving the coulomb efficiency.

Palladium (Pd) metal microparticles were deposited in a viologen-containing polymer layer on the surface of a graphite felt electrode. The Pd-deposited electrode is effective for the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of the carbon-carbon double bond part of alkyl olefins (1-hexene, 1-decene, cis-2-penetene), conjugated enones (2-cyclohexene-1-one, 4-isopropyl-2-cyclohexene-1-one, 3,5,5-trimetyl-2-cyclohexene-1-one), styrene, and trans-stilbene with 100% selectivity.