Methods for forming a metal oxide electrolyte improve ionic conductivity. Some of those methods involve applying a first metal compound to a substrate, converting that metal compound to a metal oxide, applying a different metal compound to the metal oxide, and converting the different metal compound to form a second metal oxide. That substrate may be in nanobar form that conforms to an orientation imparted by a magnetic field or an electric field applied before or during the converting. Electrolytes so formed can be used in solid oxide fuel cells, electrolyzers, and sensors, among other applications.

An all-solid battery includes a multilayer structure that includes pairs of positive electrode layers and pairs of negative electrode layers, first solid electrolyte layers, second solid electrolyte layers, and third solid electrolyte layers, the pairs of positive electrode layers and the pairs of negative electrode layers being alternately stacked, each of the first solid electrolyte layers being interposed between each of the pairs of positive electrode layers, each of the second solid electrolyte layers being interposed between each of the pairs of negative electrode layers, each of the third solid electrolyte layers being interposed between the positive electrode layer and the negative electrode layer, wherein a thickness of the third solid electrolyte layer is different from at least one of a thickness of the first electrolyte layer and a thickness of the second electrolyte layer.

An electrode material manufacturing method is a method for manufacturing an electrode material (50) of an all-solid-state battery, and the method includes: the step of preparing a coated active substance to prepare a coated active substance (10) containing a positive electrode active substance 11 and a coating layer (12) of an oxide-based solid-electrolyte that covers at least a portion of a surface thereof; the step of first compositing to manufacture a first composite material (20) by covering at least a portion of a surface of the solid electrolyte (21) with a conductive auxiliary agent (22); the step of second compositing to manufacture a second composite material (40) by covering a surface of the coated active substance (10) with the first composite material (20); and the step of mixing the second composite material (40), the conductive auxiliary agent (22), and the solid electrolyte (21) to manufacture an electrode material (50).

In an embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a non-aqueous electrolyte. In some embodiments, the non-aqueous electrolyte includes a polymeric component and a ceramic component. The polymeric component includes a polyester-based polymer and a polyether-based polymer. The ceramic component includes inorganic materials. In an additional embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to an energy storage device including an anode, a cathode, and a non-aqueous electrolyte of the present disclosure. In a further embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a method of making a non-aqueous electrolyte by mixing a polymeric component and a ceramic component of the present disclosure.

The present invention aims to provide a lithium-ion-conducting oxide sintered body capable of providing a solid electrolyte with an excellent ion conductivity, and a solid electrolyte, an electrode and an all-solid-state battery using the same. The lithium-ion-conducting oxide sintered body including at least lithium, tantalum, phosphorus, silicon, and oxygen as constituent elements, and having a polycrystalline structure consisting of crystal grains and grain interfaces formed between the crystal grains.

According to the present invention, there are provided a composite body that enables the formation of a lithium ion conductor that exhibits good lithium ion conductivity by a pressurization treatment without sintering at a high temperature (about 1,000° C.) while using a lithium-containing oxide having excellent safety and stability, as well as a lithium ion conductor, an all-solid state lithium ion secondary battery, an electrode sheet for an all-solid state lithium ion secondary battery, and lithium tetraborate. The composite body according to the embodiment of the present invention contains a lithium compound having a lithium ion conductivity of 1.0×10.sup.−6 S/cm or more at 25° C. and lithium tetraborate that satisfies the following requirement 1.

The requirement 1: In a reduced two-body distribution function G(r) obtained from an X-ray total scattering measurement of the lithium tetraborate, a first peak in which a peak top is located in a range where r is 1.43±0.2 Å and a second peak in which a peak top is located in a range where r is 2.40±0.2 Å are present, G(r) of the peak top of the first peak and G(r) of the peak top of the second peak indicate more than 1.0, and an absolute value of G(r) is less than 1.0 in a range where r is more than 5 Å and 10 Å or less.

An exemplary lithium-ion battery may include an anode, a cathode, and a separator between the anode and cathode. The separator may be at least partially coated with a sub-nanometer porous membrane. The battery may be a conventional battery in which the anode and cathode are at least partially submerged in an electrolytic solution. Alternatively, the battery may be a solid-state battery disposed between the anode and cathode and having a solid-state electrolyte, which may serve as the separator.

High voltage, high-ionic-conductivity, fire resistant solid-state polymer electrolytes include poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF-HFP), sulfolane plasticizer, lithium salt, and ceramic nanoparticles with the basic formula Li.sub.7La.sub.3Zr.sub.2O.sub.12 (LLZO) and derivatives thereof. During the curing process, the presence of the LLZO nanoparticles prevent the P(VDF-HFP) from developing into a crystalline phase. In the electrolyte formed, the P(VDF-HFP) is in an amorphous phase with LLZO nanoparticles, lithium salt and sulfolane distributed in the polymer matrix. The solid-state electrolyte with the amorphous polymer phase exhibit higher ionic conductivities than those having a crystalline polymer phase. The LLZO contributes to mechanical properties of the electrolyte and also function as tough ceramic fillers that inhibit lithium dendrite growth during operation of lithium-ion cells and batteries. 5V all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries incorporated the electrolytes exhibit high energy densities (250-350 Whr/kg), high power densities (high discharge rate up to 5 C) and long service lives (500-1500 cycles, <2% irreversible loss/month).

A solid electrolyte (10) of the present disclosure includes porous silica (11) having a plurality of pores (12) interconnected mutually and an electrolyte (13) coating inner surfaces of the plurality of pores (12). The electrolyte (13) includes 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide represented by EMI-FSI and a lithium salt dissolved in the EMI-FSI. A molar ratio of the EMI-FSI to the porous silica (11) is larger than 1.0 and less than 3.5.

A composition includes a first portion including Ni-rich LiNi.sub.xCo.sub.γMn.sub.zO.sub.2, where 0.5<x<1, 0<y<1, 0<z<1; a second portion including Li.sub.αZr.sub.βO.sub.γ, where 0<α<9, 0<β<3, and 1<γ<10 such that the second portion is coated on the first portion, and the first portion is doped with an elemental metal selected from at least one of Zr, Si, Sn, Nb, Ta, Al, and Fe. A method of forming a composition includes mixing a metal precursor with nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) precursor to form a first mixture; adding a lithium-based compound to the first mixture to form a second mixture; and calcining the second mixture at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time to form the composition.