A main object of the present invention is to provide an anode current collector that is capable of inhibiting the reaction with liquid electrolyte. The present invention achieves the object by providing an anode current collector to be used for a fluoride ion battery; and the anode current collector being a simple substance of Fe, Mg, or Ti, or an alloy containing one or more of these metal elements.

Molten lithium-sulfur and lithium-selenium electrochemical cells are disclosed. A solid electrolyte separates a molten lithium metal or molten lithium metal alloy from a molten sulfur or molten selenium. The molten lithium-sulfur and lithium-selenium cells have low over potential, no side reaction, and no dendrite growth. These cells have high Coulombic efficiency and energy efficiency and thus provide new chemistries to construct high-energy, high-power, long-lifetime, low-cost and safe energy storage systems.

Provided is an anode electrode (e.g. a layer or roll of a laminated structure) for a lithium battery or sodium battery, the anode electrode comprising: (a) an anode current collector having two primary surfaces; (b) multiple particles or coating of a lithium-attracting metal or sodium-attracting metal deposited on at least one of the two primary surfaces, wherein the lithium-attracting metal or sodium-attracting metal, having a diameter or thickness from 1 nm to 10 μm, is selected from Au, Ag, Mg, Zn, Ti, K, Al, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Sn, V, Cr, an alloy thereof, or a combination thereof; and (c) a layer of graphene that covers and protects the multiple particles or coating of the metal. Also provided is a process for producing such an anode electrode and a battery cell.

The present invention provides a one-sided electrode for a secondary battery comprising a current collector, an electrode mixture layer applied to one surface of the current collector, and an electrode distortion-preventing layer formed on the other surface of the current collector to which no electrode mixture is applied. The one-sided electrode according to the present invention exhibits significantly reduced warping or curling after a rolling process and has the advantages of facilitating subsequent processes and enabling enhanced productivity.

A process for preparing a cathode of a lithium battery, having the following steps: (a) Longitudinally punching a metal band to form irregular filamentous holes, horizontally stretching the metal band, and performing compaction to give the metal net irregular filamentous holes; (b) After the metal net is cleaned and dried, processing the metal net surface by a laser less than 5W, of 500-1000W, and of 10-100W sequentially; and (c) Coating the metal net, having the surface processed with lasers, with a prepared cathode paste, and drying, pressing, and cutting the metal net to obtain a battery cathode.

The present invention has as its technical issue to secure not only mechanical strength but also conductivity by increasing the contact area with the positive electrode active substance or positive electrode mixture while also securing corrosion resistance to alkali or an electrolytic solution when applying stainless steel foil to a current collector for a positive electrode of a secondary battery so as to deal with the increasingly higher capacities and smaller sizes and lighter weights of lithium ion secondary batteries and has as its object the provision of a current collector for a positive electrode of a secondary battery using such stainless steel foil. The invention is a current collector comprised of stainless steel foil made to decrease in surface hardness while obtaining corrosion resistance by giving it a chemical composition decreased in Cr and containing a trace amount of Sn or a chemical composition containing Ti, a thickness of 1 μm or more and 20 μm or less, and a surface hardness of a Vickers hardness of Hv300 or less applied to a secondary battery positive electrode. When measuring an electrical contact resistance between the positive electrode active substance and the current collector after pressing, when the filling ratio of the positive electrode mixture is 74%, the electrical contact resistance is 100Ω or less. In particular, that effect is exhibited when the density of the positive electrode mixture is 3.0 g/cm.sup.3 or more (filling ratio: 50% or more).

A surface-treated steel sheet of the present invention includes a base steel sheet and a Ni—Co—Fe alloy-plated layer on at least one surface of the base steel sheet, in which, in the alloy-plated layer, a Ni coating weight is 7.1 to 32.5 g/m.sup.2, a Co coating weight is 0.65 to 5.2 g/m.sup.2, and a total of the Ni coating weight and the Co coating weight is in a range of 9.0 to 35.0 g/m.sup.2. In an outermost layer of the alloy-plated layer, a Co concentration is in a range of 20 to 60 atom %, and a Fe concentration is in a range of 5 to 30 atom %. In the alloy-plated layer, a region having a thickness of 2 μm or more, in which a total of a Ni concentration and the Co concentration is 10 atom % or more and the Fe concentration is 5 atom % or more, is present, and the base steel sheet has a predetermined chemical composition, and a ferrite grain size number is 9.0 or more.

An alternative grid energy storage system is described herein. In one embodiment, an electrochemical cell comprises a high specific surface area cathode (e.g., a cathode comprising a carbon nanofoam paper, a carbon nanotube mesh, a particulate carbon material, electrolytic manganese dioxide, or a manganese dioxide film), a zinc or lead anode (e.g., Zn or Pb foil), a selective ion-conductive separator that does not conduct zinc ions (e.g., a NAFION sulfonated tetrafluoroethylene based fluoropolymer-copolymer separator) between the anode and the cathode, and an aqueous electrolyte comprising a manganese salt (e.g., aqueous manganese sulfate) contacting the electrodes and the separator. A battery comprising two or more of the electrochemical cells electrically connected together in series, parallel, or both, also is described.

A lithium battery and method for fabricating the same are provided herein. The battery cathode comprises a carbon structure filled with a catalyst, such as palladium-catalyst-filled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The carbon structure provides a barrier between the catalyst and the electrolyte providing an increased stability of the electrolyte during both discharging and charging of a battery.

A clad material for a battery current collector includes a pinhole due to falling off of an intermetallic compound containing Al and Ni or an intermetallic compound containing Al and Fe from an outer surface of a first layer. A clad material for a battery current collector includes a clad material obtained by bonding a first layer made of Al or an Al alloy and a second layer made of any one of Ni, a Ni alloy, Fe, and a Fe alloy by rolling. The clad material has a thickness of 50 μm or less. In the clad material, an intermetallic compound layer constituted by an intermetallic compound containing Al and Ni or an intermetallic compound containing Al and Fe, the intermetallic compound layer having a thickness of 0.1 μm or more and 1 μm or less, is formed between the first layer and the second layer.