The objective of the present invention is to provide a carbon material excellent in conductivity. The carbon material according to the present invention has a graphene sheet as a basic skeleton and is doped with boron so that carbon is substituted with boron, the carbon material being characterized in that the boron content in the carbon material is 0.005-15 mol %, and when the content of dopant boron that substitutes carbon on the surface of the carbon material is denoted by X (mol %) and the content of boron in the carbon material is denoted by Y (mol %), X/Y<0.8 is satisfied.

The present invention relates to an additive for an electrochemical device positive electrode comprising a porous carbon material, wherein the porous carbon material has a pore volume of pores having a diameter of 2 nm or more of 0.25 cm.sup.3/g or more, a pore volume of pores having a diameter of less than 2 nm of 0.5 cm.sup.3/g or less, and an ash content of 0.5% by weight or less.

A flexible energy storage device with a glycerol-based gel electrolyte is provided. The flexible energy storage device can include a pair of electrodes separated by the gel electrolyte. The electrolytes can be in gel form, bendable and stretchable in a device. The gel electrolyte can include glycerol, redox-active molybdenum-containing ions, and a secondary ionic substance. The secondary ionic substance can include a salt. The gel electrolyte can have a density of 1.4 to 1.9 g/cm.sup.3 and an ionic conductivity of 2.3×10.sup.−4 to 3.2×10.sup.−4 Scm.sup.−1. The flexible energy storage device may retain greater than 95% of an unbent energy storage capacity when bent at an angle of 10 to 170°.

A flexible energy storage device with a glycerol-based gel electrolyte is provided. The flexible energy storage device can include a pair of electrodes separated by the gel electrolyte. The electrolytes can be in gel form, bendable and stretchable in a device. The gel electrolyte can include glycerol, redox-active molybdenum-containing ions, and a secondary ionic substance. The secondary ionic substance can include a salt. The gel electrolyte can have a density of 1.4 to 1.9 g/cm.sup.3 and an ionic conductivity of 2.3×10.sup.−4 to 3.2×10.sup.−4 Scm.sup.−1. The flexible energy storage device may retain greater than 95% of an unbent energy storage capacity when bent at an angle of 10 to 170°.

A positive electrode for an energy storage device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a positive active material layer containing a positive active material and a carbon nanotube, in which in a Log differential pore volume distribution of the positive active material layer measured by a mercury intrusion method, an average value of a ratio of a Log differential pore volume to a pore diameter in a range of a pore diameter of 20 nm or more and 200 nm or less is 3000 cm.sup.2/g or more.

According to this method for producing an electrode, a fibrous binder is produced by fibrillating a particulate binder, which has a volume-based median diameter of from 5 to 100 .Math.m, by means of the application of a shear force, and an electrode mixture is produced by mixing the fibrous binder with an active material, said electrode mixture having a solid content concentration of substantially 100%. It is preferable that the fibrillation is carried out so that the breaking peripheral velocity ratio of the electrode mixture is 8 or more. In addition, an electrode mixture sheet is produced by shaping the electrode mixture into a sheet form by rolling, and the electrode mixture sheet is subsequently bonded to a core material.

An electrochemical apparatus, including a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte, where the positive electrode includes a positive electrode active material layer, and the positive electrode active material layer has a relatively small contact angle with respect to a non-aqueous solvent. The electrochemical apparatus has improved cycling performance, rate performance, and direct-current resistance.

Provided is an energy storage apparatus capable of appropriately controlling use of a silicon material in normal times and achieving long life, and a method of using the energy storage apparatus. One aspect of the present invention is an energy storage apparatus that includes an energy storage device and a measuring section for measuring an internal pressure change rate of the energy storage device, the energy storage device having a negative electrode that contains a carbon material and a silicon material. Another aspect of the present invention is a method of using the energy storage apparatus that includes performing discharge while the internal pressure change rate of the energy storage device is measured.

A binder for an electrochemical device made of a polymer material including a first polymer containing a first constituent unit having a guest group in a side chain; and a second polymer containing a second constituent unit having a host group in a side chain. Also disclosed is an electrode mixture containing the binder, an electrode active material and a dispersion medium; an electrode containing the binder, an electrode active material and a current collector; an electrochemical device including the electrode; and a secondary battery including the electrode.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a method of creating a supercapacitor. The method includes forming an anode and a cathode, each composed of a substrate having at least one of a lignin, a lignin-based composite, activated carbon, a plant extract, a cellulose by-product, biofuel waste, one or more metals, a metal oxide, a monometallic tungstate, or a bimetallic tungstate, and sandwiching an electrolyte coated separator between the anode and the cathode. In an addition embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to an electrode composed of a particle-decorated lignin. In some embodiments, the particle-decorated lignin includes particles that can include, without limitation, MnO.sub.2, NiWO.sub.4, MnO.sub.2, NiCoWO.sub.4, CoWO.sub.4, and combinations thereof. In a further embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a supercapacitor made via the methods of the present disclosure.