TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preparation (Claimed): Preparation of (I) comprises: producing a mixture by substantially dissolving in a solvent, a first precursor solute comprising an alkali-metal compound, a second precursor solute comprising a compound of M1, a third precursor solute comprising a compound of M2, and optionally a fourth precursor solute comprising a compound of M3; and dispensing the mixture in a substantially planar configuration, transitioning through a gel phase, and drying and curing to a substantially dry phase. Preferred Components: (A) have a substantially planar configuration for an electrolyte medium. (A) comprises 0.1-50% of lithium, 0.1-25% of lanthanum, 0.1-25% of zirconium, 30-70% of oxygen and 0.0-25% of carbon. The first precursor solute comprises lithium alkoxide, the second precursor solute comprises lanthanum alkoxide, and the third precursor solute comprises zirconium alkoxide. The lithium alkoxide comprises lithium butoxide, the lanthanum alkoxide comprises lanthanum methoxyethoxide, and the zirconium alkoxide comprises zirconium butoxide. The lanthanum methoxyethoxide comprises an amount of the lanthanum methoxyethoxide pre-dissolved in an amount of the alcohol based solvent to produce a lanthanum methoxyethoxide solution comprising 12 wt.% of the lanthanum methoxyethoxide. The zirconium butoxide comprises an amount of the zirconium butoxide pre-dissolved in an amount of butanol to produce a zirconium butoxide solution comprising 80 wt.% of the zirconium butoxide. Preferred Process: The mixture is dispensed into a substantially planar configuration by one of spin coating, casting, dip coating, spray coating, screen printing or ink-jet printing. The step of drying and curing the mixture comprises exposing and heating the mixture in an environment comprising air and ozone, where a concentration of the ozone in the air is greater than 0.05 parts per million. The step of drying and curing the mixture further comprises: exposing the mixture to the environment comprising air and ozone for 1 hour; and then heating the mixture in the environment comprising air and ozone at 80 degrees C for about 30 minutes. The steps of exposing and heating the mixture in an environment comprising air and ozone are followed by the step of heating the mixture in air. The step of drying and curing the mixture further comprises heating the mixture in air at 300 degrees C for 30 minutes.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The solvent comprises an alcohol-based solvent. The alcohol-based solvent comprises methoxyethanol. The solvent comprises an alcohol-based solvent, and at least one of the first precursor solute, the second precursor solute, and the third precursor solute comprises a metal beta -diketonate. The metal beta -diketonate comprises a metal acetyl acetonate. The mixture further comprises at least one gelling, drying, and/or curing control agent. The gelling, drying, and/or curing control agent is acetylacetone, acetic acid, ethanol or an ethanol/water mixture.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: The mixture further comprises a polymer. The polymer comprises polyvinyl pyrrolidone. The polymer comprises an amount of the polymer pre-dissolved in an amount of the alcohol-based solvent to produce a polymer solution. Preferred Definitions:    M = lithium;    M1 = lanthanum;    M2 = zirconium; and    M3 = oxygen, where the percentage of total number of atoms M is 0.1-50%, M1 is 0.1-25%, M2 is 0.1-25%, M3 is 30-70%, and carbon is up to 25%.    EXAMPLE - An amorphous lithium lanthanum zirconium oxide (LLZO) precursor solution was prepared by dissolving 4.5 g of a lanthanum methoxyethoxide solution, 0.65 g of lithium butoxide and 0.77 g of a zirconium butoxide solution in 5 g of methoxyethanol. The thoroughly mixed precursor solution was left in a bottle in a dry environment for 1-1.5 hours to help facilitate substantially complete dissolution of the lithium butoxide that was not pre-dissolved. The precursor solution was deposited by known spin-coating processes at 1200 rpm for 15 seconds in a dry environment. The resulting layer of composition was placed in a closed container and exposed to an ozone-rich air environment (ozone concentration larger than 0.05 part per million (ppm)) for 1 hour. This was followed by heating at 80 degrees C for 30 minutes, also in an ozone-rich air environment. The LLZO coating and substrate were then heated at 300 degrees C for 30 minutes in air to form an amorphous LLZO layer whose thickness was 250 nm.