A porous silicon composite including: a porous silicon composite cluster comprising a porous silicon composite secondary particle and a second carbon flake on at least one surface of the porous silicon composite secondary particle; and a carbonaceous layer on the porous silicon composite cluster, the carbonaceous layer comprising amorphous carbon, wherein the porous silicon composite secondary particle comprises an aggregate of two or more silicon primary particles, the two or more silicon primary particles comprise silicon, a silicon suboxide of the formula SiO.sub.x, wherein 0<x<2 on a surface of the silicon, and a first carbon flake on at least one surface of the silicon suboxide, the silicon suboxide is in a form of a film, a matrix, or a combination thereof, and the first carbon flake and the second carbon flake are each independently present in a form of a film, particles, a matrix, or a combination thereof. Also a method of preparing the porous silicon composite, a carbon composite, an electrode, and a device, each including the porous silicon composite, and a lithium battery including the electrode.

Electrodes, production methods and mono-cell batteries are provided, which comprise active material particles embedded in electrically conductive metallic porous structure, dry-etched anode structures and battery structures with thick anodes and cathodes that have spatially uniform resistance. The metallic porous structure provides electric conductivity, a large volume that supports good ionic conductivity, that in turn reduces directional elongation of the particles during operation, and may enable reduction or removal of binders, conductive additives and/or current collectors to yield electrodes with higher structural stability, lower resistance, possibly higher energy density and longer cycling lifetime. Dry etching treatments may be used to reduce oxidized surfaces of the active material particles, thereby simplifying production methods and enhancing porosity and ionic conductivity of the electrodes. Electrodes may be made thick and used to form mono-cell batteries which are simple to produce and yield high performance.

The present disclosure describes various types of batteries, including lithium-ion batteries having an anode assembly comprising: an anode comprising a first porous ceramic matrix having pores; and a ceramic separator layer affixed directly or indirectly to the anode; a cathode; an anode-side current collector contacting the anode; and anode active material comprising lithium located within the pores or cathode active material located within the cathode; wherein, the ceramic separator layer is located between the anode and the cathode, no electrically conductive coating on the pores contacts the separator layer, and in a fully charged state, lithium active material in the anode does not contact the separator layer. Also disclosed are methods of making and methods of using such batteries.

Described herein are improved composite anodes and lithium-ion batteries made therefrom. Further described are methods of making and using the improved anodes and batteries. In general, the anodes include a porous composite having a plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites. At least one of the plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites is formed from a dendritic particle, which is a three-dimensional, randomly-ordered assembly of nanoparticles of an electrically conducting material and a plurality of discrete non-porous nanoparticles of a non-carbon Group 4A element or mixture thereof disposed on a surface of the dendritic particle. At least one nanocomposite of the plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites has at least a portion of its dendritic particle in electrical communication with at least a portion of a dendritic particle of an adjacent nanocomposite in the plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites.

Described herein are improved composite anodes and lithium-ion batteries made therefrom. Further described are methods of making and using the improved anodes and batteries. In general, the anodes include a porous composite having a plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites. At least one of the plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites is formed from a dendritic particle, which is a three-dimensional, randomly-ordered assembly of nanoparticles of an electrically conducting material and a plurality of discrete non-porous nanoparticles of a non-carbon Group 4A element or mixture thereof disposed on a surface of the dendritic particle. At least one nanocomposite of the plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites has at least a portion of its dendritic particle in electrical communication with at least a portion of a dendritic particle of an adjacent nanocomposite in the plurality of agglomerated nanocomposites.

A method for modifying an electrode comprising an alkali metal is disclosed, the method comprising casting a salt solution comprising at least one salt comprising an alkaline ion and a solvent on the electrode; casting a fluoropolymer solution comprising at least one fluoropolymer and a solvent on the electrode; and drying the electrode.

Also disclosed is an electrode comprising an alkali metal at least partly covered by a solid electrolyte interphase, said solid electrolyte interphase having atomic ratios of carbon, fluorine and sulfur atoms of 1 C:0.15 to 0.80 F:0.02 to 0.30 S.

A method for modifying an electrode comprising an alkali metal is disclosed, the method comprising casting a salt solution comprising at least one salt comprising an alkaline ion and a solvent on the electrode; casting a fluoropolymer solution comprising at least one fluoropolymer and a solvent on the electrode; and drying the electrode.

Also disclosed is an electrode comprising an alkali metal at least partly covered by a solid electrolyte interphase, said solid electrolyte interphase having atomic ratios of carbon, fluorine and sulfur atoms of 1 C:0.15 to 0.80 F:0.02 to 0.30 S.

The present invention relates to a solid electrolyte interphase composition having a F:CF.sub.3 mol-ratio (x) of 0.00<x≤12.00; a negative electrode comprising a negative electrode material and a solid electrolyte interphase composition on a surface of said negative electrode material, wherein said solid electrolyte interphase composition has a molar ratio F:CF.sub.3 (x) of 0.00<x≤12.00, as determined by XPS; as well as its application in a lithium secondary battery cell.

Provided is a method for manufacturing an electrode by doping an active material included a layer of an electrode precursor with alkali metal. The electrode precursor and a counter electrode member are brought into contact with a solution containing an alkali metal ion in a dope bath. The counter electrode member includes a conductive base material, an alkali metal-containing plate, and a member having an opening. The member having the opening is located between the conductive base material and the alkali metal-containing plate. The member having the opening is, for example, a resin film having an opening.

A nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a positive electrode, a negative electrode and a nonaqueous electrolyte solution; the negative electrode comprises a negative electrode collector and a negative electrode active material layer that is provided on the negative electrode collector; the negative electrode active material layer contains, as negative electrode active materials, graphite particles A and graphite particles B; the graphite particles A have an internal void fraction of 5% or less; the graphite particles B have an internal void fraction of from 8% to 20%; if the negative electrode active material layer is halved in the thickness direction, a region on the half closer to the outer surface contains more graphite particles A than a region on the half closer to the negative electrode collector.