Non-doped diamond behaves as an insulator. Under the addition of impurities called as dopants in the preparation process, it is possible to prepare a conductive or semiconductive diamond. In this study, for the purpose of obtaining further knowledge about fundamental aspect of the electrochemical properties about such a conductive diamond, heavily doped boron diamond thin films has been prepared. And their electrochemical properties under magnetic field was investigated in detail and compared with that of other metal electrode and carbon electrode.

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La_0.8Sr_0.2Al_1−xMn_xO₃ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6) were synthesized using a spray pyrolysis method as a stable sensing-electrode (SE) material in high-temperature reducing atmosphere for zirconia-based amperometric NOx sensor. The XRD diffraction pattern of the La_0.8Sr_0.2AlO₃ oxide after treatment in a reducing atmosphere (in 4 vol.% H₂ at 750°C for 2 h) was same with the one as-prepared. A response to 500 ppm NO₂ of a sensor using the oxide after treatment as an SE was −1.3 µA, a value approximately equal to that obtained using an oxide before treatment.

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In this study, we investigated an origin of low reproducibility of blue phosphor (CaMgSi₂O₆:Eu) by means of XRD, SEM, cathodoluminescence, photoluminescence, and thermoluminescence. There were no changes in the crystal structure, particle size, surface morphology, and cathodoluminscence property. On the other hand, it was seen that an increase in photoluminescence intensity induced a corresponding decrease in peak area of thermoluminescence spectrum, and the photoluminescence intensity was almost linearly proportional to the peak area of thermoluminescence spectrum. In addition, similar relationship was also found in another blue phosphor Sr₃MgSi₂O₈:Eu. It is suggested that the low reproducibility of the photoluminescence intensity may be due to the change of the thermoluminescence spectra. Thus, by controlling the concentration of traps in the host crystal of the phosphor, it is possible to predict the potential performance of its photoluminescence.

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The electrochemical reaction of catechol (CC) and hydroquinone (HQ) was investigated at poly-(p-aminobenzoic acid) (p-ABA)/multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) composite film modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode via cyclic voltammetry (CV). Separation of the peak potentials for CC and HQ was about 105 mV in 0.1 mol/L H₂SO₄, which makes it suitable for simultaneous determination of these compounds. Under optimized conditions, the oxidation current of CC and HQ have been enhanced linearly with the concentration in the range of 1 × 10⁻⁵–1 × 10⁻³ mol/L (r = 0.9979) and 1 × 10⁻⁵–1 × 10⁻³ mol/L (r = 0.9948), with the detection limit of CC and HQ 4 × 10⁻⁶ and 2.7 × 10⁻⁶ mol/L, respectively. The proposed method has been applied to determine CC and HQ simultaneously with good results, which shows excellent stability and reproducibility.

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The effect of operating temperature on durability was investigated for direct butane utilization using microtubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). At 710°C, the performance of the Ni-Gd doped ceria (Ni-GDC) anode deteriorated rapidly for less than 2 h in butane fuel with relatively low steam/carbon (S/C) ratio at 0.044 because of a large amount of carbon deposition by butane cracking. The carbon nanofiber grew up from catalysis in the Ni-GDC anode after direct butane utilization at 660°C for 15 h. The carbon deposition rate in wet butane was slower than that in dry butane below 660°C on the Ni-GDC composite, because the oxidation of deposited carbon was also promoted by catalysis in the presence of water. The electric power could be generated continuously for more than 24 h in butane at S/C = 0.044 and relatively low operating temperature at 610°C using the Ni-GDC anode. Decrease in the operating temperature realized high durability against carbon deposition for direct butane utilization of SOFCs using the Ni-GDC anode.

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