Lithium-containing thiostannate spinel compounds having the formula Li.sub.2M.sub.1+xSn.sub.3?xS.sub.8, where x is 0 or 1 and M is Mg, Fe, Mn, Ni, Ga, In, or a combination thereof; or the formula Li.sub.1.66CuSn.sub.3.33S.sub.8 are provided. Methods and devices for detecting incident neutrons and alpha-particles using the compounds are also provided. For thermal neutron detection applications, the compounds can be enriched with lithium-6 isotope (.sup.6Li) to enhance their neutron detecting capabilities.

A method for producing a phosphor having a core-shell structure that includes: a core part formed of a crystal phase of an inorganic compound containing a metal element M constituting a luminescent center ion and aluminum; and a shell part containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of boron and silicon and formed on at least a portion of a surface of the core part, the method including: mixing a raw material of the crystal phase and a raw material of the shell part; and heating the obtained mixture at a temperature at which the raw material of the shell part is liquefied, but a host crystal of a phosphor to be obtained is maintained, in which the raw material of the crystal phase contains a raw material compound having D50 in a particle diameter distribution of 0.2 to 90 ?m and containing aluminum.

A method for forming a cathode includes milling a suspension of precursors via a micromedia mill to form a mixture of primary particles in the suspension. The precursors include one or more metal compounds. The method includes spray drying the suspension after the milling to form secondary particles. The secondary particles are agglomerations of the primary particles. The method also includes annealing the secondary particles to form a disordered rocksalt powder.

A method for producing manganese(II) sulfate monohydrate includes a pulverization and washing step of pulverizing and washing a manganese-containing by-product, a leaching step of leaching the pulverized manganese-containing by-product after the pulverization and washing step to produce a leachate, a neutralization step of neutralizing the leachate produced in the leaching step, an impurity removal step of removing impurities from the leachate neutralized in the neutralization step, a solvent extraction step of recovering manganese in the form of an aqueous solution of manganese sulfate from a process liquid subjected to the impurity removal step by using a solvent extraction method, and a crystallization step of producing manganese(II) sulfate monohydrate by evaporating and concentrating the aqueous solution of manganese sulfate produced in the solvent extraction step.

A negative electrode active material includes a compound represented by a composition formula of Mg.sub.xMe.sub.1-xO.sub.1-xH.sub.2x, where Me is at least one selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu, and 0.5x0.9.

An absorber coating is provided for solar heat power generation that has excellent thermal oxidation resistance and a high spectral absorptance and manufacturing method thereof. The absorber coating for solar heat power generation has a network structure of composite particles comprising: particles of metal oxide containing mainly two or more metals selected from Mn, Cr, Cu, Zr, Mo, Fe, Co and Bi, and titanium oxide partly or entirely coating on the surface of the particle of the metal oxide. The arithmetic mean estimation of the surface of the coating is 1.0 m or more, and a ratio of a network area of the composite particle to a plane area of the coating is 7 or more.

A positive-electrode active material contains a compound that has a crystal structure belonging to the space group FM3-M and that is represented by the composition formula (1):
Li.sub.xMe.sub.yO.sub.F.sub.(1) wherein Me denotes one or two or more elements selected from the group consisting of B, Ce, Si, Zr, Nb, Pr, Ti, W, Ge, Mo, Sn, and solid solutions thereof, and the following conditions are satisfied.
1.8x2.2
0.8y1.3
1.22.5
0.51.8

In a method for the precipitation of particles of a metal carbonate material comprising nickel and manganese in an atomic ratio of 0?Ni:Mn?1:3, aqueous solutions comprising sulfates or nitrates of nickel and manganese are mixed with aqueous solutions of carbonates or mixtures of carbonates and hydroxides of sodium or potassium in a stirred reactor at pH>7.5 without the use of a chelating agent. Thereby agglomerated particles are formed without any subsequent process steps, in particular no subsequent process at temperatures higher than the precipitation temperature.

The present invention provides a layered double hydroxide with improved conductivity, a layered double hydroxide and a composite material containing the layered double hydroxide. The layered double hydroxide is represented by the general formula: [Mg.sup.2+.sub.(1-y)M1.sup.+.sub.y].sub.1-x[Al.sup.3+.sub.(1-z)M2.sup.+.sub.z].sub.x(OH).sub.2A.sup.n.sub.x/n.mH.sub.2O, wherein 0.1x0.4, 0y0.95, and 0z0.95, provided that both y and z are not 0 at the same time; =1 or 2; =2 or 3; A.sup.n is an n-valent anion, provided that n is an integer of 1 or greater; m0; M1.sup.+ is a cation of at least one substituent element selected from monovalent elements, transition metal elements, and other elements with an ionic radius greater than that of Mg.sup.2+; and M2.sup.+ is a cation of at least one element selected from divalent elements, transition metals, and other elements with an ionic radius greater than that of Al.sup.3+.

A system, method, and articles of manufacture for a surface-modified transition metal cyanide coordination compound (TMCCC) composition, an improved electrode including the composition, and a manufacturing method for the composition which may include multiple chelation species (Che_x). The composition, compound, device, and uses thereof according to A.sub.xMn.sub.(y-k)M.sup.j.sub.k[Mn.sup.m(CN).sub.(6-p-q)(NC).sub.p(Che_I).sup.r.sub.q].sub.z. CHE_GROUP (Vac).sub.(1-z).nH.sub.2O, wherein CHE_GROUP includes one or more chelation materials selected from the group consisting of (Che_I).sup.r.sub.w, (Che_II).sup.s.sub.v, and combinations thereof, and wherein 0<j4, 0k0.1, 0(p+q)6, 0<x4, 0<y1, 0<z1, 0<w0.2; 3r3; 0<v0.2; 3s3; and 0n6; wherein x+2(yk)+jk+(m+(r+1)q6)z+wr+vs=0.