In an aspect, a solid-state Li-ion battery (SSLB) cell, may comprise an anode electrode comprising an anode electrode surface and an anode active material, a cathode electrode comprising a cathode electrode surface and an cathode active material, and an inorganic, melt-infiltrated, solid state electrolyte (SSE) ionically coupling the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, wherein at least a portion of at least one of the electrode surfaces comprises an interphase layer separating the respective electrode active material from direct contact with the SSE, and wherein the interphase layer comprises two or more metals from the list of: Zr, Al, K, Cs, Fr, Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Sc, Y, La or non-La lanthanoids, Ta, Zr, Hf, and Nb.

An active material particle include a lithium silicate composite particle including a lithium silicate phase, and silicon particles dispersed in the lithium silicate phase, and a first coating that covers at least a portion of a surface of the lithium silicate composite particle; wherein the first coating includes an oxide of a first element other than a non-metal element, and a carbon atom, the first coating has a thickness T1.sub.A, an element ratio Rb of the first element relative to the carbon atom at a position of 0.25T1.sub.A of the first coating from the surface of the lithium silicate composite particle, and an element ratio Rt of the first element relative to the carbon atom at a position of 0.75T1.sub.A of the first coating from the surface of the lithium silicate composite particle satisfy Rb>Rt.

Composites of silicon and various porous scaffold materials, such as carbon material comprising micro-, meso- and/or macropores, and methods for manufacturing the same are provided. The compositions find utility in various applications, including electrical energy storage electrodes and devices comprising the same.

An anode for an energy storage device includes a current collector having an electrically conductive layer and a surface layer overlaying the electrically conductive layer. A lithium storage layer may overlay the surface layer. The surface layer may include manganese. The lithium storage layer may include at least 40 atomic % silicon, germanium, or a combination thereof.

An electrochemical element includes a current collector, and an active material layer on the current collector, wherein the active material layer includes active material particles each having a lithium silicate composite particle including a lithium silicate phase and silicon particles dispersed therein, and a first coating that covers at least a portion of a surface of the lithium silicate composite particle, the first coating includes an oxide of a first element other than a non-metal element, and the active material layer has a thickness TA, and T1b<T1t, where T1b is a thickness of the first coating covering the lithium silicate composite particle at a position of 0.25 TA from the current collector surface in the active material layer, and T1t is a thickness of the first coating covering the lithium silicate composite particle at a position of 0.75 TA from the current collector surface in the active material layer.

An electrochemical element includes a current collector, and an active material layer supported on the current collector, wherein the active material layer contains lithium silicate composite particles each including a. lithium silicate phase, and silicon particles dispersed in the lithium silicate phase, and an electrically conductive carbon material, a first coating covers at least a portion of a surface of the lithium silicate composite particles and at least a portion of a surface of the electrically conductive carbon material, the first coating includes an oxide of a first element other than a non-metal element, and T1.sub.A>T1.sub.c is satisfied, where T1.sub.A is an average thickness of the first coating that covers at least a portion of the surface of the lithium silicate composite particles, and T1.sub.c is an average thickness of the first coating that covers at least a portion of the surface of the electrically conductive carbon material.

A battery of the present disclosure includes: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; and an electrolyte layer disposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, wherein the negative electrode includes a negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode active material layer, the negative electrode active material layer includes a plurality of silicon layers and a plurality of lithium silicate layers, and the silicon layer and the lithium silicate layer are alternately stacked.

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) (e.g., multi-walled VACNTs and methods of synthesizing the same are provided. VACNTs can be synthesized on nickel foam (Ni—F), for example by using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique. A wet chemical method can then be used to coat on the VACNTs a layer of nanoparticles, such as tin oxide (SnO.sub.2) nanoparticles.

A web coating platform for depositing molten metal on flexible substrates is provided. The web coating platform can be used for manufacturing solid lithium anodes for use in energy storage devices, for example, rechargeable batteries. The coating platform can be designed for double-sided coating of a continuous flexible substrate (e.g., a copper foil) with molten lithium followed by double-sided lamination or passivation. The coating platform integrates novel coating elements unique to handling and processing molten metals. For example, some implementations of the present disclosure incorporate double-sided molten metal coating elements, which include at least one of a molten metal application assembly (e.g., kiss roller, slot-die, Meyer bar, and/or gravure roller), a primary melt pool assembly, a secondary melt pool assembly, and an engagement mechanism.

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) (e.g., multi-walled VACNTs and methods of synthesizing the same are provided. VACNTs can be synthesized on nickel foam (Ni—F), for example by using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) technique. A wet chemical method can then be used to coat on the VACNTs a layer of nanoparticles, such as tin oxide (SnO.sub.2) nanoparticles.