The present invention aims to provide a lithium-ion-conducting oxide sintered body capable of providing a solid electrolyte with an excellent ion conductivity, and a solid electrolyte, an electrode and an all-solid-state battery using the same. The lithium-ion-conducting oxide sintered body including at least lithium, tantalum, phosphorus, silicon, and oxygen as constituent elements, and having a polycrystalline structure consisting of crystal grains and grain interfaces formed between the crystal grains.

The present disclosure relates to a porous ceramic media that may include a chemical composition, a phase composition, a total open porosity content of at least about 10 vol. % and not greater than about 70 vol. % as a percentage of the total volume of the ceramic media, and a nitric acid resistance parameter of not greater than about 500 ppm. The chemical composition for the porous ceramic media may include SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, an alkali component and a secondary metal oxide component selected from the group consisting of an Fe oxide, a Ti oxide, a Ca oxide, a Mg oxide and combinations thereof. The phase composition may include an amorphous silicate, quartz and mullite.

According to the present invention, there are provided a composite body that enables the formation of a lithium ion conductor that exhibits good lithium ion conductivity by a pressurization treatment without sintering at a high temperature (about 1,000° C.) while using a lithium-containing oxide having excellent safety and stability, as well as a lithium ion conductor, an all-solid state lithium ion secondary battery, an electrode sheet for an all-solid state lithium ion secondary battery, and lithium tetraborate. The composite body according to the embodiment of the present invention contains a lithium compound having a lithium ion conductivity of 1.0×10.sup.−6 S/cm or more at 25° C. and lithium tetraborate that satisfies the following requirement 1.

The requirement 1: In a reduced two-body distribution function G(r) obtained from an X-ray total scattering measurement of the lithium tetraborate, a first peak in which a peak top is located in a range where r is 1.43±0.2 Å and a second peak in which a peak top is located in a range where r is 2.40±0.2 Å are present, G(r) of the peak top of the first peak and G(r) of the peak top of the second peak indicate more than 1.0, and an absolute value of G(r) is less than 1.0 in a range where r is more than 5 Å and 10 Å or less.

A positive-electrode material according to the present disclosure includes a positive-electrode active material and a cover layer 111 containing a first solid electrolyte and covering at least partially the surface of the positive-electrode active material. The positive-electrode active material and the cover layer constitute a covered active material; the positive-electrode active material has a pore volume V.sub.α, the covered active material has a pore volume V.sub.β, the positive-electrode active material has a specific surface area Sa, the covered active material has a specific surface area Sp, and at least one selected from the group consisting of 0.20<V.sub.β/V.sub.α<0.88 and 0.81<S.sub.β/S.sub.α<0.97 is satisfied.

A sputtering target comprising a top coat including a composition of lithium cobalt oxide LiyCozOx. x is smaller than or equal to y+z, and the lithium cobalt oxide has an X-Ray diffraction pattern with a peak P2 at 44°±0.2° 2-theta. The X-Ray diffraction pattern is measured with an X-Ray diffractometer with CuKα1 radiation.

A solid electrolyte, in which a part of an element contained in a mobile ion-containing material is substituted, and an occupied impurity level that is occupied by electrons or an unoccupied impurity level that is not occupied by electrons is provided between a valence electron band and a conduction band of the mobile ion-containing material, and a smaller energy difference out of an energy difference between a highest level of energy in the occupied impurity level and an energy and a LUMO level difference between a lowest level of energy in the unoccupied impurity level and a HOMO level is greater than 0.3 eV.

An abrasive article includes a body having a bond material extending throughout the body and abrasive particles contained in the bond material. The bond material can include aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) and lithium oxide (Li.sub.2O). In an embodiment, the bond material can include a ratio (Al.sub.2O.sub.3/Li.sub.2O) of a content of aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) relative to a content of lithium oxide (Li.sub.2O), based on weight percent, of greater than 11.5 and at most 20. In another embodiment, the abrasive article can have a versatility factor of greater than 1.90.

The invention relates to a method for producing a non-oxide ceramic powder comprising a nitride, a carbide, a boride or at least one MAX phase with the general composition Mn+1AXn, where M=at least one element from the group of transition elements (Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf and Ta), A=at least one A group element from the group (Si, Al, Ga, Ge, As, Cd, In, Sn, Tl and Pb), X=carbon (C) and/or nitrogen (N) and/or boron (B), and n=1, 2 or 3. According to the invention, corresponding quantities of elementary starting materials or other precursors are mixed with at least one metal halide salt (NZ), compressed (pellet), and heated for synthesis with a metal halide salt (NZ). The compressed pellet is first enveloped with another metal halide salt, compressed again, arranged in a salt bath and heated therewith until the melting temperature of the salt is exceeded. Optionally, melted silicate can be added, which prevents the salt from evaporating at high temperatures. Advantageously, the method can be carried out in the presence of air.

The present invention relates to a ceramic solid electrolyte, which is a key component of an all-solid-state lithium secondary battery, for improving safety, and a method for synthesizing the same. The present invention relates to an oxide-based conductive ceramic of a new NASICON structure of the chemical formula Li.sub.1+xAl.sub.xX.sub.2−xP.sub.3O.sub.12 (X is Zr, Si, Sn, or Y, 0<x<2) or Li.sub.1+xZr.sub.2X.sub.xP.sub.3−xO.sub.12 (X=Si, Sn, Ge, or Y, 1.5≤x≤2.3). The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an oxide-based conductive ceramic having the above novel NASICON structure.

A method of preparing a lithium-ion conducting garnet via low-temperature solid-state synthesis is disclosed. The lithium-ion conducting garnet comprises a substantially phase pure aluminum-doped cubic lithium lanthanum zirconate (Li.sub.7La.sub.3Zr.sub.2O.sub.14). The method includes preparing nanoparticles comprising lanthanum zirconate (La.sub.2Zr.sub.2O.sub.7-np) via pyrolysis-mediated reaction of lanthanum nitrate (La(NO.sub.3).sub.3) and zirconium nitrate (Zr(NO.sub.3).sub.4). The method also includes pyrolyzing a solid-state mixture comprising the La.sub.2Zr.sub.2O.sub.7-np, lithium nitrate (LiNO.sub.3), and aluminum nitrate (Al(NO.sub.3).sub.3) to give the Li.sub.7La.sub.3Zr.sub.2O.sub.14 and thereby prepare the lithium-ion conducting garnet. A lithium-ion conducting garnet prepared via the method is also disclosed.