A lithium manganate positive electrode active material, comprising a lithium manganate matrix and a cladding layer as a “barrier layer” and a “functional layer” are described. The cladding layer can not only “prevent” the transition metal ions which have been produced by the lithium manganate matrix from directly “running” into the electrolyte solution, but also “prevent” the hydrofluoric acid in the electrolyte solution from directly contacting with the lithium manganate substrate, and then prevent the lithium manganate matrix from dissolving out more transition metal manganese ions; as a “functional layer”, the cladding layer contains various effective ingredients inside, which can reduce the transition metal manganese ions already present inside the battery through chemical reactions or adsorption effects, thus slowing down the generation of transition metal manganese and the decomposition of the SEI film (solid electrolyte interphase film) catalyzed by the transition metal manganese.

A flexible Zn film electrode with ionic and electronic networks has been designed by utilizing ionic liquid based gel polymer as the binder, which can minimize the interface resistance between electrode and electrolytes. Ionic liquid electrolytes are good candidates for high surface area Zn anode due to their good electro(chemical) stability. Ionic liquid based gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) are good candidates to replace liquid electrolytes or separators in some special applications, like surface coating structure batteries.

A lithium-ion secondary battery including positive and negative electrodes, a separator element, an electrical conductor element and a binder, wherein the positive electrode includes a lithium-containing metal phosphate compound coated with a carbon material having at least one phase selected from a graphene phase and an amorphous phase, and further includes carbon black and a fibrous carbon material and wherein the negative-electrode material includes a graphite carbon material having at least one carbon phase selected from a graphene phase and an amorphous phase, and further includes carbon black and a fibrous carbon material, and wherein the binder includes a water-soluble synthetic resin or a water-dispersible synthetic resin. The most preferred positive electrode includes LiFePO.sub.4, The most preferred negative electrode includes artificial graphite or graphitazable powder. The most preferred binder is carboxyl methyl cellulose further including a surface active agent. A method of making the lithium-ion secondary battery.

Disclosed is a method for producing polymer-encapsulated Li.sub.2S.sub.x (where 1≤x≤2) nanoparticles. The method comprises the step of forming a mixture of a polymer and sulfur. The method further comprises vulcanizing the mixture at a vulcanization temperature attained at a heating rate, in a vulcanization atmosphere, and electrochemically reducing a vulcanized product at a reduction potential. Also disclosed is a method for producing a battery component, the component comprising a cathode and a separator.

A silicon-based negative electrode material, a preparation method therefor and a use thereof in a lithium-ion battery. The silicon-based negative electrode material comprises a silicon-based active material and a composite layer that coats the surface of the silicon-based active material and composes a flexible polymer, flake graphite and a conductive material. The method comprises: 1) dissolving the flexible polymer in a solvent; 2) adding the flake graphite and the conductive material into the flexible polymer solution obtained in step 1) while stirring; 3) adding an anti-solvent to the mixed coating solution obtained in step 2) and stirring; 4) adding the silicon-based active material to the supersaturated mixed coating solution obtained in step 3) while stirring, and then stirring and separating; and 5) carrying out thermal treatment to obtain the silicon-based negative electrode material.

Provided are electrochemically active materials capable of absorbing and desorbing an ion suitable for use in secondary cells. The provided materials include a core consisting of a plurality of silicon particulates of a particle size less than 1 micrometer, the particulates intermixed with and surrounded by a silicon metal alloy composite, and an electrochemically active buffering shell layer enveloping at least a portion of the core such that the resulting electrochemically active material has an overall particle size with a maximum linear dimension of greater than one micrometer.

Provided is a multivalent metal-ion battery comprising an anode, a cathode, a porous separator electronically separating the anode and the cathode, and an electrolyte in ionic contact with the anode and the cathode to support reversible deposition and dissolution of a multivalent metal, selected from Ni, Zn, Be, Mg, Ca, Ba, La, Ti, Ta, Zr, Nb, Mn, V, Co, Fe, Cd, Cr, Ga, In, or a combination thereof, at the anode, wherein the anode contains the multivalent metal or its alloy as an anode active material and the cathode comprises a cathode layer of an exfoliated graphite or carbon material recompressed to form an active layer that is oriented in such a manner that the active layer has a graphite edge plane in direct contact with the electrolyte and facing or contacting the separator.

A nanocomposite includes one or more graphene-based materials (GMs), a nitrogen-containing polymer (an N-polymer), and elemental sulfur (S). The nanocomposite is suitable for use as a stable, high capacity electrode for rechargeable batteries such as lithium-sulfur (Li—S) batteries. Example methods of fabricating a nanocomposite include the addition of an N-polymer to a dispersion (e.g., an aqueous dispersion) or slurry of GMs mixed with a sulfur sol. The N-polymer can interact strongly with the GMs to form a cross-linked network. In one embodiment, hydrothermal treatment of the aqueous dispersion or slurry is used to melt the sulfur such that it becomes distributed within the network formed by the GMs and the N-polymer. The resulting nanocomposite material can then be processed through the addition of one or more other binders and/or solvents, and formed into a final electrode.

A method for manufacturing a lithium secondary battery, including the steps: (S1) forming a preliminary negative electrode by coating a negative electrode slurry including a negative electrode active material, conductive material, binder and a solvent onto at least one surface of a current collector, followed by drying and pressing the negative electrode slurry coated current collector, to form a negative electrode active material layer surface on the current collector; (S2) coating lithium metal foil onto the negative electrode active material layer surface of the preliminary negative electrode in the shape of a pattern in which pattern units are arranged; (S3) cutting the preliminary negative electrode on which the lithium metal foil is pattern-coated to obtain negative electrode units; (S4) impregnating the negative electrode units with an electrolyte to obtain a pre-lithiated negative electrode; and (S5) assembling the negative electrode obtained from step (S4) with a positive electrode and a separator.

A rechargeable lithium battery includes a positive electrode having a positive current collector and a positive active material layer at least partially disposed on the positive current collector, wherein the positive active material layer includes a first positive active material having at least one of a composite oxide of a metal selected from cobalt, manganese, nickel, and a combination thereof and lithium, and a second positive active material having a compound represented by Chemical Formula 1 as defined herein, and a negative electrode having a negative current collector, a negative active material layer at least partially disposed on the negative current collector, and a negative electrode functional layer having generally flake-shaped polyethylene particles at least partially disposed on the negative active material layer.