An aqueous silicate solution containing ions of metal having an atomic number selected from atomic numbers 21-31, 39-50, 57-82, and 89-93 and a process for preparing the solution. The solution is useful e.g. for forming metal containing coatings.

An object of the present invention is to provide an ultraviolet and/or near-infrared shielding agent composition for transparent material using silicon compound-coated silicon-doped zinc oxide particles that are controlled in properties in an ultraviolet region and/or a near-infrared region. The present invention provides an ultraviolet and/or near-infrared shielding agent composition for transparent material used for a purpose of shielding ultraviolet rays and/or near-infrared rays, the ultraviolet and/or near-infrared shielding agent composition for transparent material featuring that the ultraviolet and/or near-infrared shielding agent contains silicon compound-coated silicon-doped zinc oxide particles, with which surfaces of silicon-doped zinc oxide particles that are zinc oxide particles doped with at least silicon are at least partially coated with a silicon compound.

A negative electrode active material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries which has particles of negative electrode active material, the particles of negative electrode active material containing a silicon compound (SiO.sub.x: 0.5x1.6) that contains a Li compound, including a carbon coating on at least a part of a surface of the silicon compound and a salt coating containing one or more kinds of a metal silicate containing a metal element other than a lithium element and a metal salt containing a metal element other than the lithium element on a part of a surface of the silicon compound or a surface of the carbon coating or both of these. Thus, the negative electrode active material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries having high stability to an aqueous slurry, high capacity and excellent cycle characteristics and initial efficiency may be provided.

Provided is a silica aerogel with enhanced physical properties. The silica aerogel can have a tap density of 0.030 to 0.070 g/mL, and a carbon content of 11.2 to 12.1 wt %.

A production method of a negative electrode active material containing a silicon compound (SiO.sub.x: 0.5x1.6) that contains Lithium includes: making a silicon compound into which the lithium has been inserted contact with a solution B containing a polycyclic aromatic compound or a derivative thereof or both thereof (here, the solution B contains one or more kinds selected from an ether-based solvent, a ketone-based solvent, an ester-based solvent, an alcohol-based solvent, and an amine-based solvent as a solvent); and making the silicon compound contact with a solution C (here, the solution C contains one or more kinds selected from an ether-based material, a ketone-based material, and an ester-based material as the solvent, and contains a compound having a quinoid structure in a molecule as a solute).

The present invention relates to a method for producing a silica aerogel and a silica aerogel produced thereby. More specifically, a first water glass solution is used to form a first silica wet gel, and then a second water glass solution is additionally added to form a second silica wet gel organically bonded to the first silica wet gel which serves as a basic skeleton, so that a silica aerogel with enhanced physical properties is formed to increase the resistance to shrinkage in ambient drying. Thus, a low-density silica aerogel may be formed, and the concentrations of the first and second water glass solutions may be adjusted to control the physical properties of the silica aerogel.

A method of producing a synthetic functionalized additive including the steps of mixing an amount of a magnesium salt with a fluid medium to produce a magnesium-containing fluid, adding an amount of a silane to the magnesium-containing fluid to produce a reactant mix, adding an amount of an aqueous hydroxide to the reactant mix to produce a reaction mixture, mixing the reaction mixture for a mix period, refluxing the reaction mixture for a reflux period to produce a product mix, treating the product mix to separate the synthetic functionalized additive.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to embodiments of synthetic functionalized additives. The synthetic functionalized additive may include a layered magnesium silicate. The layered magnesium silicate may include a first functionalized silicate layer including a first tetrahedral silicate layer covalently bonded to at least two different functional groups, an octahedral brucite layer, including magnesium, and a second functionalized silicate layer including a second tetrahedral silicate layer covalently bonded to at least two different functional groups. The octahedral brucite layer may be positioned between the first functionalized silicate layer and the second functionalized silicate layer. The at least two different functional groups covalently bonded to the first tetrahedral silicate layer may be the same or different than the at least two different functional groups covalently bonded to the second tetrahedral silicate layer.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a silica aerogel and a silica aerogel produced thereby. More specifically, a first water glass solution is used to form a first silica wet gel, and then a second water glass solution is additionally added to form a second silica wet gel organically bonded to the first silica wet gel which serves as a basic skeleton, so that a silica aerogel with enhanced physical properties is formed to increase the resistance to shrinkage in ambient drying, and the concentration of silicon dioxide in each of the first and second water glass solutions is controlled, thereby providing a method for producing a silica aerogel by which a silica aerogel having a specific tap density and controllable density can be produced, and also providing a silicon aerogel produced by the method.

A negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery which contains a negative electrode active material particle. The negative electrode active material particle contains a silicon compound particle containing Li.sub.2SiO.sub.3. When measuring the negative electrode active material particle by X-ray diffraction, a half-value width of a peak derived from the Li.sub.2SiO.sub.3 (020) plane is in a range from 1.1? to 1.5? inclusive, and formulae (1) to (3) are all satisfied,

1.1?Ib/Ia?1.5(1)

I(24.8?)/Ia?0.5(2)

I(28.4?)/Ia?1.0(3) where Ia denotes intensity of a peak derived from the Li.sub.2SiO.sub.3 (020) plane, Ib denotes intensity of a peak derived from the Li.sub.2SiO.sub.3 (111) plane, I(24.8?) denotes intensity at 2?=24.8?, and I(28.4?) denotes intensity at 2?=28.4?.