Disclosed is a carbon product, including a carbon material, and a redox functional group-containing polymer layer on a surface of the carbon material, as well as a sulfur-carbon composite containing the same, and a lithium secondary battery containing the same. More specifically, since the redox functional group-containing polymer functions to promote the reduction of lithium polysulfide, when the carbon material having the redox functional group-containing polymer layer formed or the sulfur-carbon composite is applied as a positive electrode material for a lithium secondary battery, the performance of the battery may be improved.

A rocking-chair nonaqueous secondary battery, which uses an ion other than monatomic ions as a charge carrier, and in which the ion moves in and out of both the positive electrode and the negative electrode, can be provided by using a nonaqueous secondary battery electrolyte comprising a salt containing a charge carrier comprising a molecular ion. The nonaqueous secondary battery further comprises a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material, and a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material, wherein the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material are both materials that allow doping and dedoping of molecular anions (e.g., conductive polymers, organic radical polymers, polymers having a ferrocene skeleton, conductive carbon materials, or organic sulfur compounds), or the positive electrode active material and the negative electrode active material are both materials that allow doping and dedoping of molecular cations (e.g., inorganic active materials, redox active molecules having a carbonyl group, redox active molecules having an imine skeleton, or redox active molecules containing a sulfur atom).

A thin-film all-organic electrochemical device is disclosed. The device includes one or more polymer chains. Each of the one or more polymer chains has reducing functional groups, oxidizing functional groups, and ionically conducting functional groups. The ionically conducting functional groups are disposed in between the reducing functional groups and the oxidizing functional groups. The device may produce a potential greater than 5 volts.

An energy storage system includes, in an exemplary embodiment, a first current collector having a first surface and a second surface, a first electrode including a plurality of carbon nanotubes on the second surface of the first current collector. The plurality of carbon nanotubes include a polydisulfide applied onto a surface of the plurality of nanotubes. The energy storage system also includes an ionically conductive separator having a first surface and a second surface, with first surface of the ionically conductive separator positioned on the first electrode, a second current collector having a first surface and a second surface, and a second electrode including a plurality of carbon nanotubes positioned between the first surface of the second current collector and the second surface of the ionically conductive separator.

An apparatus for forming an electrode film mixture can have a first source including a polymer dispersion comprising a liquid and a polymer, a second source including a second component of the electrode film mixture, and a fluidized bed coating apparatus including a first inlet configured to receive from the first source the dispersion, and a second inlet configured to receive from the second source the second component.

The present invention is concerned with novel compounds derived from polyquinonic ionic compounds and their use in electrochemical generators.

The invention is directed in a first aspect to electron-conducting porous compositions comprising an organic polymer matrix doped with nitrogen atoms and having elemental sulfur dispersed therein, particularly such compositions having an ordered framework structure. The invention is also directed to composites of such S/N-doped electron-conducting porous aromatic framework (PAF) compositions, or composites of an S/N-doped mesoporous carbon composition, which includes the S/N-doped composition in admixture with a binder, and optionally, conductive carbon. The invention is further directed to cathodes for a lithium-sulfur battery in which such composites are incorporated.

Surface conduction in porous media can drastically alter the stability and morphology of electrodeposition at high rates, above the diffusion-limited current. Above the limiting current, surface conduction inhibits growth in the positive membrane and produces irregular dendrites, while it enhances growth and suppresses dendrites behind a deionization shock in the negative membrane. The discovery of uniform growth contradicts quasi-steady “leaky membrane” models, which are in the same universality class as unstable Laplacian growth, and indicates the importance of transient electro-diffusion or electro-osmotic dispersion. Shock electrodeposition could be exploited for high-rate recharging of metal batteries or manufacturing of metal matrix composite coatings.

A core-shell elemental sulfur sub-micron particle having a core of elemental sulfur and a shell of a membrane containing alternating layers of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes is provided. A functionalized conductive carbon material is optionally present in one or more of the core and an outer layer. A cathode containing the core-shell elemental sulfur sub-micron particle and a lithium-sulfur battery constructed with the cathode are also provided.

Highly porous synergistic combinations of silicon and carbon materials are provided, along with articles that incorporate such materials and processes for producing the materials. The compositions have novel properties and provide significant improvements in Coulombic efficiency, dilithiation capacity, and cycle life when used as anode materials in lithium battery cells including solid state batteries.