The topic of this thesis is the study of nitrogen functionalities in nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide using Raman spectroscopy. Specifically, the project set out to investigate if the Raman active nitrogen-related vibrational modes of graphene can be identified via isotope labelling. Previous studies have used Raman spectroscopy to characterise nitrogen doped graphene, but none has employed the method of isotope labelling to do so. The study was conducted by producing undoped, nitrogen-doped and nitrogen-15-doped reduced graphene oxide and comparing the differences in the first-order Raman spectrum of the samples. Results of this study are inconclusive. However, some indications linking the I band to nitrogen functionalities are found. Also, a hypothetical Raman band denoted I* possibly related to \spt{3} hybridised carbon is introduced in the same spectral area as I. This indication of a separation of the I band into two bands, each dependent on one of these factors could bring clarity to this poorly understood spectral area. As the results of this study are highly speculative, further research is needed to confirm them and the work presented here serves as a preliminary investigation.

Lithium-ion battery is attractive for various applications because of its high energy density. The performance of Li-ion battery is influenced by several properties of the electrode materials such as particle size, surface area, ionic and electronic conductivity, etc. Porosity is another important property of the electrode material, which influences the performance. Pores can allow the electrolyte to creep inside the particles and also facilitate volume expansion/contraction arising from intercalation/deintercalation of Li+ ions. Additionally, the rate capability and cycle-life can be enhanced. The following porous electrode materials are investigated. Poorly crystalline porous -MnO2 is synthesized by hydrothermal route from a neutral aqueous solution of KMnO4 at 180 oC and the reaction time of 24 h. On heating, there is a decrease in BET surface area and also a change in morphology from nanopetals to clusters of nanorods. As prepared MnO2 delivers a high discharge specific capacity of 275 mAh g-1 at a specific current of 40 mA g-1 (C/5 rate). Lithium rich manganese oxide (Li2MnO3) is prepared by reverse microemulsion method employing Pluronic acid (P123) as a soft template. It has a well crystalline structure with a broadly distributed mesoporosity but low surface area. However, the sample gains surface area with narrowly distributed mesoporosity and also electrochemical activity after treating in 4 M H2SO4. A discharge capacity of about 160 mAh g-1 is obtained at a discharge current of 30 mA g-1. When the acid-treated sample is heated at 300 °C, the resulting porous sample with a large surface area and dual porosity provides a discharge capacity of 240 mAh g-1 at a discharge current density of 30 mA g-1. Solid solutions of Li2MnO3 and LiMO2 (M=Mn, Ni, Co, Fe and their composites) are more attractive positive electrode materials because of its high capacity >200 mAh g-1.The solid solutions are prepared by microemulsion and polymer template route, which results in porous products. All the solid solution samples exhibit high discharge capacities with high rate capability. Porous flower-like α-Fe2O3 nanostructures is synthesized by ethylene glycol mediated iron alkoxide as an intermediate and heated at different temperatures from 300 to 700 oC. The α-Fe2O3 samples possess porosity with high surface area and deliver discharge capacity values of 1063, 1168, 1183, 1152 and 968 mAh g-1 at a specific current of 50 mA g-1 when prepared at 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 oC, respectively. Partially exfoliated and reduced graphene oxide (PE-RGO) is prepared by thermal exfoliation of graphite oxide (GO) under normal air atmosphere at 200-500 oC. Discharge capacity values of 771, 832, 1074 and 823 mAh g -1 are obtained with current density of 30 mA g-1 at 1st cycle for PE-RGO samples prepared at 200, 300, 400 and 500 oC, respectively. The electrochemical performance improves on increasing of exfoliation temperature, which is attributed to an increase in surface area. The high rate capability is attributed to porous nature of the material. Results of these studies are presented and discussed in the thesis.