A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprises a positive electrode that contains, as positive electrode active materials: (A) a lithium transition metal composite oxide that has a volume-based D50 of 0.6 μm to 3 μm and that consists of secondary particles comprising aggregated primary particles with an average particle diameter of 0.5 um or more or is configured of substantially one kind of particle; and (B) a lithium transition metal composite oxide that has a volume-based D50 of 6 μm to 25 μm and that consists of secondary particles, comprising aggregated primary particles with an average particle diameter of 0.3 μm or less.

Described is a lithium-sulfur electrochemical cell in which the anode and the cathode are each equipped with a respective solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer that inhibits lithium side reactions. On the cathode side, the SEI layer inhibits the shuttle effect by retaining soluble polysulfides within a cathode active layer while releasing and admitting lithium ions to and from the electrolyte. The cathode SEI is deposited, during cell formation, by depositing a layer of an anode reductant (e.g., metallic lithium) on the surface of the cathode. The resultant electrically conductive layer allows electrons to reduce adjacent electrolyte and form the cathode SEI from electrolyte decomposition products.

Provided is a high-capacity SMD-type all-solid-state battery comprising: a stacked press body; a first external electrode formed on one side of the stacked press body; and a second external electrode formed on the other side of the stacked press body, wherein the stacked press body includes: a plurality of positive electrode sheets sequentially stacked and pressed so that an end of one side of each is connected to the first external electrode; a plurality of negative electrode sheets positioned between the positive electrode sheets crosswise with respect to the positive electrode sheets, and sequentially stacked and pressed so that an end of the other side of each is connected to the second external electrode; and a plurality of electrolyte sheets positioned between the positive electrode sheets and the negative electrode sheets and sequentially stacked and pressed.

A cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery includes a lithium metal oxide particle, and an organic poly-phosphate or an organic poly-phosphonate formed on at least portion of a surface of the lithium metal oxide particle. Chemical stability of the lithium metal oxide particle may be improved and surface residues may be reduced by the organic poly-phosphate or the organic poly-phosphonate.

Methods of preparing Si-based anode slurries and anode made thereof are provided. Methods comprise coating silicon particles within a size range of 300-700 nm by silver and/or tin particles within a size range of 20-500 nm, mixing the coated silicon particles with conductive additives and binders in a solvent to form anode slurry, and preparing an anode from the anode slurry. Alternatively or complementarily, silicon particles may be milled in an organic solvent, and, in the same organic solvent, coating agent(s), conductive additive(s) and binder(s) may be added to the milled silicon particles—to form the Si-based anode slurry. Alternatively or complementarily, milled silicon particles may be mixed, in a first organic solvent, with coating agent(s), conductive additive(s) and binder(s)—to form the Si-based anode slurry. Disclosed methods simplify the anode production process and provide equivalent or superior anodes.

The disclosure provides a method of prelithiating an anode for a lithium-ion cell, the method comprising: (a) providing a pre-fabricated anode comprising an anode active material; (b) prelithiating the pre-fabricated anode by exposing the anode to a lithium source and an electrolyte solution, comprising a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid solvent, to enable lithium ions to intercalate into the anode active material until a level of lithium interaction from 5% to 100% of the maximum lithium storage capacity is achieved to form a prelithiated anode; and (c) introducing a protective polymer onto the prelithiated anode to prevent exposure of the prelithiated anode active material to the open air or into the anode to bond the prelithiated anode active material or to improve a structural integrity of the prelithiated anode, wherein the protective polymer has a lithium-ion conductivity from 10.sup.−8 S/cm to 5×10.sup.−2 S/cm at room temperature.

Provided is an anode active material layer for a lithium battery. This layer comprises multiple particulates of an anode active material, wherein at least a particulate is composed of one or a plurality of particles of a high-capacity anode active material being encapsulated by a thin layer of elastomeric material that has a lithium ion conductivity no less than 10.sup.−7 S/cm (preferably no less than 10.sup.−5 S/cm) at room temperature and an encapsulating shell thickness from 1 nm to 10 μm, and wherein the high-capacity anode active material (e.g. Si, Ge, Sn, SnO.sub.2, Co.sub.3O.sub.4, etc.) has a specific capacity of lithium storage greater than 372 mAh/g (the theoretical lithium storage limit of graphite).

One example of the present invention provides a negative electrode material. Such a negative electrode material may comprise lithium titanium oxide-based particles and a graphene quantum dot coating layer doped with nitrogen that is positioned on the lithium titanium oxide-based particles.

Electrode protection in electrochemical cells, and more specifically, electrode protection in both aqueous and non-aqueous electrochemical cells, including rechargeable lithium batteries, are presented. Advantageously, electrochemical cells described herein are not only compatible with environments that are typically unsuitable for lithium, but the cells may be also capable of displaying long cycle life, high lithium cycling efficiency, and high energy density.

Methods for making solid-state laminate electrode assemblies include methods of forming a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) by ion implanting nitrogen and/or phosphorous into the glass surface by ion implantation.