Lithium and sodium insertions into pyrophosphates MP₂O₇ (M = Mo, W) were investigated electrochemically as possible cathodes for ion-transfer batteries. Lithium and sodium were reversibly incorporated in the 3D-framework of pyrophosphates MP₂O₇ (M = Mo, W) with liquid organic electrolytes at room temperature. The first discharge capacities were 95 mAhg⁻¹ for A_1.0MoP₂O₇ (A = Li, Na) and 295 mAhg⁻¹ for A_4.0WP₂O₇ (A = Li, Na), respectively. The guest (Li or Na) insertion into WP₂O₇ induced a transition to the amorphous phase, whereas the insertion into MoP₂O₇ proceeded topotactically with a smooth single phase reaction.

A new polymer electrolyte fuel cell with a bipolar membrane was proposed with a view to increasing the performance of low temperature PEFCs. The bipolar membrane consists of an acid and a basic ion-exchange layers. The acid layer contacts to the anode and the basic layer contacts to the cathode. The observed open circuit voltage with the proposed cell was 0.882 V. The result implies that the modification of a bipolar membrane fuel cell may leads to a high performance fuel cell. It was observed that the OH⁻ ion conductivity with a basic ion-exchange membrane Neosepta was comparable to the conductivity of H⁺ in Nafion membrane. In the bipolar membrane, however, the measured conductivity was 1 order lower than that of Nafion membrane. This result would be caused by the existence of a resistance layer between the acid and the basic polymer layers. The polarization characteristics were measured by considering the MEA preparation methods. We achieved the polarization performance for the bipolar electrolyte fuel cell using screen-printing MEA preparation method. The highest power density was 0.026 W cm⁻².

The electrodepositon of Zn-Mg alloys was tried by potentiostatic electrolysis and cathodic polarization in Lewis basic 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazorium bromide (EMIB)-ZnBr₂-MgBr₂-ethylene glycol molten salts at 120°C. The molten salts used were prepared by chemical displacement of prescribed amounts of Zn in EMIB-ZnBr₂-EG molten salts by Mg. The cathodic polariozation curves showed that EMI⁻ cation in the molten salt decomposed below −0.8 V (vs. Zn/EMIB-ZnBr₂-EG (45 : 10 : 45 mol%)). Thus the potentiosatatic electrolysis was carried out at −0.6 V and grayish metallic-colored electrodeposits were obtained. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed the diffraction lines of Mg₂Zn₁₁ in addition to Zn, CuZn₅ and the substrate Cu. This result indicates the Zn-Mg alloy plating can be done by using EMIB-ZnBr₂-MgBr₂-EG molten salts. The Mg content in the electrodeposit obtained from the EMIB-ZnBr₂-MgBr₂-EG (18 : 6 : 4 : 72 mol%) molten salt was 2.5 mol%. Corrosion resistance of Zn-2.5 mol% Mg alloy coating steel was about 13 times compare with that of Zn coating steel in the 5 mass% NaCl aqueous solution at 35 °C.

Sn-Ag alloy electroplating for Pb-free solder from acid sulfate baths (2 M H₂SO₄ + 0.1 M SnSO₄ + 0.002 M Ag₂SO₄ + 0.2 M thiourea) containing N,N-bis(polyoxyethylene)octadecylamine[C₁₈H₃₇N[(CH₂CH₂O)₁₀H]₂ : POOA-10] has been studied by means of various electrochemical methods, scanning electron microscopic observation, X-ray diffractometry, etc. Dendritic electrodeposits were obtained from acid sulfate bath in the absence of organic additives. On the other hand, granular crystals were observed on the whole surface by adding POOA-10. Sn-Ag alloy electrodeposits containing 2.0∼5.0 at%Ag were obtained from acid sulfate baths containing 1 mM POOA-10 under galvanostatic conditions (0.5∼7.0 A/dm²). Ag contents in electrodeposits gradually increased with increasing the current density. Sn-Ag alloy electrodeposits obtained from acid sulfate baths containing 1 mM POOA-10 consist of β-Sn phase and ε (Ag₃Sn) phase, and its solidus temperature is 221°C. Wettability of electrodeposited Sn-Ag alloy films was not affected by Ag contents in deposits.