A new silicon material is provided. A negative electrode active material including an Al- and O-containing silicon material, the Al- and O-containing silicon material being configured such that a mass % of Al (W.sub.Al %) satisfies 0<W.sub.Al<1, and a peak indicating Al—O bond is observed in a range of 1565 to 1570 eV in an X-ray absorption fine structure measurement for a K shell of Al.

A metal air battery includes an air electrode containing a conductive material and a catalyst, a negative electrode containing a metal, and an electrolyte having ionic conductivity. The conductive material contains a co-continuous body of a three-dimensional network structure in which nanostructure bodies are branched, and the catalyst contains oxide having a cage-shaped crystal structure.

A cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery according to exemplary embodiments may include lithium metal oxide particles; and a coating layer which is formed on surfaces of the lithium metal oxide particles and contains a first metal and a second metal, wherein the coating layer may include a region having a predetermined tendency that the concentrations of the first metal and the second metal are changed. In addition, a method of manufacturing the cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery is provided.

An active material is disclosed in the present invention. The active material includes a lithium active material and a complex shell which completely covers the lithium active material. The complex shell includes at least one protection covering and at least one structural stress covering. The protection covering is a kind of metal which may alloy with the lithium ion. The structural stress covering dose not alloy with the lithium active material. The complex shell efficiently blocks the lithium active material out of the moisture and the oxygen so that the lithium active material is able to be stored and operated in the general surroundings. The structural stress provided via the structural stress covering may keep the configuration of the active material unbroken after the repeating reactions.

In an embodiment, a multilayer ceramic capacitor 10 has a capacitor body comprising a capacitive part 11a constituted by multiple internal electrode layers 11al that are stacked with dielectric layers 11a2 in between, as well as dielectric cover parts 11b that respectively cover both sides of the capacitive part 11a in the stacking direction. Also, the dielectric layers 11a2 of the capacitive part 11a, and the dielectric cover parts 11b, contain elemental manganese, and the elemental manganese is distributed in such a way that its quantity gradually decreases in the depth direction from the exterior faces of the dielectric cover parts 11b toward the center of the dielectric layers 11a2 of the capacitive part 11a.

A method for manufacturing a rechargeable battery includes forming a mixture layer and an insulating layer on an electrode substrate having an edge extending in a specified direction so that an exposed portion where the electrode substrate is exposed extends between the edge and the insulating layer; pressing the mixture layer; and stretching an extension portion, located between the edge and the mixture layer, and the insulating layer in the specified direction. The stretching includes applying a stress greater than or equal to yield stress of the electrode substrate or greater than or equal to 0.2% proof stress of the electrode substrate and less than tensile strength of the electrode substrate to the extension portion, and applying a stress greater than or equal to yield stress of the insulating layer or greater than or equal to 0.2% proof stress of the insulating layer to the insulating layer.

Described herein is an aqueous aluminum ion battery featuring an aluminum or aluminum alloy/composite anode, an aqueous electrolyte, and a manganese oxide, aluminosilicate or polymer-based cathode. The battery operates via an electrochemical reaction that entails an actual transport of aluminum ions between the anode and cathode. The compositions and structures described herein allow the aqueous aluminum ion battery described herein to achieve: (1) improved charge storage capacity; (2) improved gravimetric and/or volumetric energy density; (3) increased rate capability and power density (ability to charge and discharge in shorter times); (4) increased cycle life; (5) increased mechanical strength of the electrode; (6) improved electrochemical stability of the electrodes; (7) increased electrical conductivity of the electrodes, and (8) improved ion diffusion kinetics in the electrodes as well as the electrolyte.

A secondary battery with a positive electrode plate having a metallic positive electrode core body and positive electrode active material layers formed on both surfaces of the positive electrode core body. The positive electrode core body has an active material layer-free region in which the positive electrode active material layers are not formed on the surface of the positive electrode core body, wherein a first protrusion protruding in the thickness direction of the positive electrode core body from one surface of the positive electrode core body is formed at the end of the active material layer-free region, positive electrode protection layers are formed in a portion adjacent to the positive electrode active material layers on one surface of the positive electrode core body in the active material layer-free region, and the protrusion height T1 of the first protrusion is less than the thickness T2 of the positive electrode protection layer.

The present invention is directed to a silicon-containing particle for use as a negative-electrode active material of a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, wherein a crystal grain size is 300 nm or less, the crystal grain size being obtained by a Scherrer method from a full width at half maximum of a diffraction line attributable to Si (111) and near 2θ=28.4° in an x-ray diffraction pattern analysis, and a true density is more than 2.320 g/cm.sup.3 and less than 3.500 g/cm.sup.3. The invention provides silicon-containing particles for use as a negative-electrode active material of a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that enable manufacture of a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having an excellent cycle characteristics and a higher capacity compared with graphite types.

A positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery includes a compound represented by Chemical Formula 1, Li.sub.aNi.sub.xCo.sub.yMe.sub.zM.sup.1.sub.kM.sup.2.sub.pO.sub.2 wherein, 0.9≦a≦1.1, 0.7≦x≦0.93, 0<y≦0.3, 0<z≦0.3, 0.001≦k≦0.006, 0.001 ≦p≦0.005, x+y+z+k+p=1, Me is Mn or Al, M.sup.1 is a divalent element, and M.sup.2 is a tetravalent element.