A negative electrode for a lithium secondary battery including a lithium metal layer; a first protective layer formed on a surface of the lithium metal layer; and a second protective layer formed on a surface of the first protective layer opposite the lithium metal layer, wherein the first protective layer and the second protective layer are different from each other in at least one property selected from the group consisting of ion conductivity and electrolyte uptake.

An ion-conducting material, a core-shell structure containing the ion-conducting material, an electrode prepared with the core-shell structure and a metal-ion battery employing the electrode are provided. The core-shell structure includes a core particle and an organic-inorganic composite layer formed on the surface of the core particle for encapsulating the core particle. The core particle includes lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel cobalt oxide, lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide, or lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide. Also, the organic-inorganic composite layer includes nitrogen-containing hyperbranched polymer and an ion-conducting material. The ion-conducting material is a lithium-containing linear polymer or a modified Prussian blue, wherein the modified Prussian blue has an ion-conducting group and the lithium-containing linear polymer has an ion-conducting segment.

A method of preparing a positive electrode active material includes preparing a lithium transition metal oxide containing nickel in an amount of 60 mol % or more based on a total number of moles of metals excluding lithium, impregnating the lithium transition metal oxide with 300 ppm to 1,000 ppm of moisture based on 100 parts by weight of the lithium transition metal oxide, and performing a heat treatment on the lithium transition metal oxide impregnated with the moisture, wherein a lithium by-product present on a surface of the lithium transition metal oxide and the moisture react to form a passivation layer on the surface of the lithium transition metal oxide. A positive electrode active material prepared by the above-described preparation method, and a positive electrode and a lithium secondary battery which include the positive electrode active material are also provided.

A quality control system analyzes the quality of a battery cell, with the battery cell defining a gas pouch configured to expand from a deflated configuration to an inflated configuration when filled with a gas formed during a cell formation process. The system comprises a computational system comprising a processor and a memory and a measurement instrument in electronic communication with the computational system. The measurement instrument is arranged to measure a distance defined by the gas pouch and transmit a signal to the computational system corresponding to the distance. The computational system is arranged to analyze the distance with the processor and determine a volumetric measurement of the gas within the gas pouch and compare the volumetric measurement to a threshold in the memory to assess a quality score for the battery cell. A corresponding method analyzes the quality of the battery cell with the quality control system.

A battery may include an anode, a cathode positioned opposite to the anode, a separator positioned between the anode and the cathode, an electrolyte dispersed throughout the cathode and in contact with the anode, and a dual-pore system. The anode may be configured to release a plurality of lithium ions. The cathode may include a plurality of pathways defined by a plurality of porous non-hollow carbonaceous spherical particles and may include a plurality of carbonaceous structures each based on a coalescence of a group of the porous non-hollow carbonaceous spherical particles. The dual-pore system may be disposed in the cathode and defined in shape and orientation by the plurality of carbonaceous structures. In some aspects, the dual-pore system may be configured to receive gaseous oxygen from the ambient atmosphere.

A composite cathode active material includes a cathode active material particle; and a coating layer on a surface of the cathode active material particle, wherein the coating layer includes an acetate, wherein the acetate comprises an alkali metal acetate, an alkaline earth metal acetate, a transition metal acetate, or a combination thereof, or a derivative thereof.

The present disclosure provides a protective film for a lithium electrode and a lithium electrode for a lithium secondary battery including the same. The protective film includes a first layer, which includes polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) and is porous, and a second layer, which is disposed on the first layer, includes a styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer, and is porous.

A positive electrode used in a secondary cell that is an example of the present embodiment is provided with a positive electrode collector, an intermediate layer formed on the positive electrode collector, and a positive electrode mixture layer formed on the intermediate layer. The positive electrode mixture layer has a thermally expandable material and a positive electrode active material. The thermally expandable material content of the positive electrode mixture layer is at least 0.1% by mass and less than 5% by mass. The intermediate layer has an insulating inorganic material and a conductive agent. The insulating inorganic material content of the intermediate layer is 80-99% by mass.

A cell for use in an electrochemical cell, such as a lithium-ion secondary battery that includes a positive electrode with an active material that acts as a cathode and a current collector; a negative electrode with an active material that acts as an anode and a current collector; a non-aqueous electrolyte; and a separator placed between the positive and negative electrodes. At least one of the cathode, the anode, the electrolyte, and the separator includes an inorganic additive in the form of a metal aluminate or a mixture of metal aluminates that absorbs one or more of moisture, free transition metal ions, or hydrogen fluoride (HF) that become present in the cell. One or more of the cells may be combined in a housing to form a lithium-ion secondary battery. The inorganic additive may also be incorporated as a coating applied to the internal wall of the housing.

A composite cathode active material, a method of preparing the composite cathode active material, and a lithium secondary battery including a cathode including the composite cathode active material are provided. The composite cathode active material includes: a nickel-based active material including about 60 mol % or more of nickel; and a coating layer on a surface of the nickel-based active material, the coating layer including a lanthanide composite. The composite cathode active material includes or is in the form of single crystal particles having an average particle diameter in a range of about 2 μm to about 8 μm.