A method of forming a sulfur-based cathode material includes: 1) providing a sulfur-based nanostructure; 2) coating the nanostructure with an encapsulating material to form a shell surrounding the nanostructure; and 3) removing a portion of the nanostructure through the shell to form a void within the shell, with a remaining portion of the nanostructure disposed within the shell.

The present invention provides a three-dimensional current collector used in a metal secondary battery and the preparation method of said current collector. Said current collector is a three-dimensional porous hollow carbon fiber current collector which has both porous structure and hollow structure and is used to load metal anode, so that lithium dendrites growth can be suppressed and the Coulombic efficiency can be improved. Said current collector is intertwined by micrometer-sized hollow carbon fibers with the diameter of 1 to 50 m, the wall thick of 0.5 to 6 m, and the pore volume of 0.005 to 0.05 cm.sup.3 cm.sup.2.

A miniaturized electrochemical cell and a method for making it are provided. The method includes preparing at least one inner electrode of an electron conducting or semi-conducting material M1; providing a hollow support made of an electrically insulating material M6 and having at least one internal hollow channel; depositing on the external surface of the support a layer of an electrically conducting material M2; forming a template of colloidal particles of an electrically insulating material M3, on the M2 layer; depositing a layer of an electrically conducting material M4 on the M2 layer; depositing a layer L1 of an electron conducting or semi-conducting material M5 on the M4 layer, introducing the at least one inner electrode into the at least one internal hollow channel of the obtained structure; stabilizing the structure at its two open ends with an electrically insulating material M7; and removing M2, M3, M4 and M6 materials.

A battery includes a battery case including a housing having side walls defining a first open end and a second open end, the battery case including a separate top cover to cover the first open end of the housing and a separate bottom cover to cover the second open end of the housing; a first electrode located within the case; a second electrode located within the case; a first terminal coupled to the first electrode and exposed outside the case; and a second terminal coupled to the second electrode and exposed outside the case.

Provided is an electrode mixture layer capable of reducing internal resistance by use of a carbon nanotube molding. The electrode mixture layer includes an active material and a conductor of carbon nanotubes in close contact with the surface of the active material, and the number density of the carbon nanotubes is 4 tubes/m or more. The number density is defined as a value obtained by providing measurement lines on a scanning electron microscope image of a surface of the electrode mixture layer at 0.3 m intervals both longitudinally and laterally, measuring the total number of the carbon nanotubes being in close contact with the surface of the active material and intersecting the measurement lines, and dividing the total number of the carbon nanotubes by the total length of the measurement lines on the active material surface.

Provided is an electrode mixture layer capable of reducing internal resistance by use of a carbon nanotube molding. The electrode mixture layer includes an active material and a conductor of carbon nanotubes in close contact with the surface of the active material, and the number density of the carbon nanotubes is 4 tubes/m or more. The number density is defined as a value obtained by providing measurement lines on a scanning electron microscope image of a surface of the electrode mixture layer at 0.3 m intervals both longitudinally and laterally, measuring the total number of the carbon nanotubes being in close contact with the surface of the active material and intersecting the measurement lines, and dividing the total number of the carbon nanotubes by the total length of the measurement lines on the active material surface.

Provided is an all solid state battery having improved charge-discharge capacity. The all solid state battery has a structure in which a current collector layer, an electrode body layer and a solid electrolyte layer are laminated in that order, wherein the electrode body layer has an active material layer and a conductive member, the active material layer contacts the solid electrolyte layer, the conductive member contacts the current collector layer and has a protruding portion, and the protruding portion protrudes towards the solid electrolyte layer from at least a portion of the surface of the current collector layer on the electrode body layer side, and contacts the surface of the active material layer in the direction of thickness thereof.

A method of manufacturing an electrochemical cell includes transferring an anode semi-solid suspension to an anode compartment defined at least in part by an anode current collector and an separator spaced apart from the anode collector. The method also includes transferring a cathode semi-solid suspension to a cathode compartment defined at least in part by a cathode current collector and the separator spaced apart from the cathode collector. The transferring of the anode semi-solid suspension to the anode compartment and the cathode semi-solid to the cathode compartment is such that a difference between a minimum distance and a maximum distance between the anode current collector and the separator is maintained within a predetermined tolerance. The method includes sealing the anode compartment and the cathode compartment.

A method of manufacturing an electrochemical cell includes transferring an anode semi-solid suspension to an anode compartment defined at least in part by an anode current collector and an separator spaced apart from the anode collector. The method also includes transferring a cathode semi-solid suspension to a cathode compartment defined at least in part by a cathode current collector and the separator spaced apart from the cathode collector. The transferring of the anode semi-solid suspension to the anode compartment and the cathode semi-solid to the cathode compartment is such that a difference between a minimum distance and a maximum distance between the anode current collector and the separator is maintained within a predetermined tolerance. The method includes sealing the anode compartment and the cathode compartment.

A method of forming a sulfur-based cathode material includes: 1) providing a sulfur-based nanostructure; 2) coating the nanostructure with an encapsulating material to form a shell surrounding the nanostructure; and 3) removing a portion of the nanostructure through the shell to form a void within the shell, with a remaining portion of the nanostructure disposed within the shell.