Glass-fiber mats for lead-acid batteries are described. The glass-fiber mats may include a plurality of glass fibers held together with a binder. The binder may be made from a binder composition that includes (i) an acid resistant polymer, and (ii) a hydrophilic agent. The hydrophilic agent increases the wettability of the glass-fiber mat such that the glass-fiber mat forms a contact angle with water or aqueous sulfuric acid solution of 70° or less. Also described are methods of making the glass-fiber mats that include applying a binder composition to the glass fibers, and including a hydrophilic agent in the glass fiber mat that increases the wettability of the mat. The hydrophilic agent may be added to the binder composition, applied to the glass-fiber mat, or both.

A battery plate assembly for a lead-acid battery is disclosed. The assembly includes a plates of opposing polarity each formed by an electrically conductive grid body having opposed top and bottom frame elements and opposed first and second side frame elements, the top frame element having a lug and an opposing enlarged conductive section extending toward the bottom frame element; a plurality of interconnecting electrically conductive grid elements defining a grid pattern defining a plurality of open areas, the grid elements including a plurality of radially extending vertical grid wire elements connected to the top frame element, and a plurality of horizontally extending grid wire elements, the grid body having an active material provided thereon. A highly absorbent separator is wrapped around at least a portion of the plate of a first polarity and extends to opposing plate faces. An electrolye is provided, wherein substantially all of the electrolyte is absorbed by the separator or active material. A method for assembling a battery is also disclosed.

A catalyst-free synthesis method for the formation of a metalorganic compound comprising a desired (first) metal may include, for example, selecting another (second) metal and an organic solvent, with the second metal being selected to (i) be more reactive with respect to the organic solvent than the first metal and (ii) form, upon exposure of the second metal to the organic solvent, a reaction by-product that is more soluble in the organic solvent than the metalorganic compound. An alloy comprising the first metal and the second metal may be first produced (e.g., formed or otherwise obtained) and then treated with the organic solvent in a liquid phase or a vapor phase to form a mixture comprising (i) the reaction by-product comprising the second metal and (ii) the metalorganic compound comprising the first metal. The metalorganic compound may then be separated from the mixture in the form of a solid.

A lithium ion-conductive solid electrolyte including a freestanding inorganic vitreous sheet of sulfide-based lithium ion conducting glass is capable of high performance in a lithium metal battery by providing a high degree of lithium ion conductivity while being highly resistant to the initiation and/or propagation of lithium dendrites. Such an electrolyte is also itself manufacturable, and readily adaptable for battery cell and cell component manufacture, in a cost-effective, scalable manner. An automated machine based system, apparatus and methods assessing and inspecting the quality of such vitreous solid electrolyte sheets, electrode sub-assemblies and lithium electrode assemblies can be based on spectrophotometry and can be performed inline with fabricating the sheet or web (e.g., inline with drawing of the vitreous Li ion conducting glass) and/or with the manufacturing of associated electrode sub-assemblies and lithium electrode assemblies and battery cells.

The present invention provides a novel anion conductor which comprises a layered metal hydroxide and can be used as an alkaline electrolyte film for use in a fuel cell or the like. An anion conductor characterized by comprising a molded product of a layered metal hydroxide represented by formula (1): [M.sub.x(OH).sub.y(A).sub.(αx-y)/z-nH.sub.2O] (wherein M represents a metal that can serve as a bivalent or trivalent cation; α represents the number of valency of the metal M, A represents an atom or an atomic group that can serve as an anion, and z represents the number of valency of the anion A, wherein, when (αx-y)/z is 2 or greater, A's may be different types of anions which can serve as anions having the same valencies as each other, or may be anions having different valencies from each other; and n represents the average number of molecules of interlayer water contained per one repeating unit). The anion conductor according to the present invention is composed of an inorganic material, and therefore has excellent heat resistance and physical strength and can be operated for a longer period at a higher temperature compared with the conventional ones when used as an anion conductor for a fuel cell, an air cell or the like.

Disclosed are battery separators comprising glass fibers and having a basis weight (gsm), a specific surface area (m.sup.2/g), a density (gsm/mm) and a mean pore size (μm), which satisfy the equation disclosed herein. Also disclosed are batteries comprising the battery separators, and processes for making the separators.

A cross-linked microporous polysulfone or polysulfone copolymer battery electrode separator membrane are described. Such membranes, which would otherwise be soluble above a particular, generally high temperature in selected battery electrolyte systems, once at least in part cross-linked, swell in the electrolyte at the particular higher temperature instead of dissolving. When the membrane separators are restrained between solid electrodes in a battery, the separator cannot increase in bulk volume, and the swelling occurs within the pores with the pore volume decreasing from its original bulk volume. The drop in pore volume causes the battery current density to drop, thereby reducing the heat generation within the hot area of the battery. This process provides a measure of safety against overheating and fires, and the battery is capable of continued usage if the overheating is localized.

An electrolyte composition (A) containing (i) at least one aprotic organic solvent; (ii) at least one conducting salt; (iii) at least one compound of formula (NC)(A.sup.1X.sup.1)C═C(X.sup.2A.sup.2)(CN) wherein X.sup.1 and X.sup.2 are independently from each other selected from N(R′), P(R.sup.1), O, and S, and A.sup.1 and A.sup.2 are selected from H or organic substituents; and electrochemical cells containing electrolyte composition (A). ##STR00001##

An ultracapacitor that includes an energy storage cell immersed in an advanced electrolyte system and disposed within a hermetically sealed housing, the cell electrically coupled to a positive contact and a negative contact, wherein the ultracapacitor is configured to output electrical energy within a temperature range between about −40 degrees Celsius to about 210 degrees Celsius. Methods of fabrication and use are provided.

Provided are an organic electrolytic solution and a lithium battery including the organic electrolytic solution, wherein the organic electrolytic solution includes an organic solvent, a lithium salt, a borate compound represented by Formula 1 below, and an ionic metal complex represented by Formula 2 below: ##STR00001##
wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, and R.sub.3 are each independently a hydrogen; a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 alkyl group substituted or unsubstituted with a halogen; or a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 cyanoalkyl group substituted or unsubstituted with a halogen, at least one of the R.sub.1, R.sub.2, and R.sub.3 includes a cyanoalkyl group, Me is an element selected from the group consisting of transition metals and Groups 13 to 15 elements of the periodic table, M is a metal ion, a is an integer from 1 to 3, b is an integer from 1 to 3, s=b/a, p is an integer from 0 to 8, q is 0 or 1, r is an integer from 1 to 4, X.sub.1 and X.sub.2 are each independently O, S, or NR.sub.6, R.sub.4 and R.sub.6 are each independently a halogen, a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 alkyl group substituted or unsubstituted with a halogen, or a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 aryl group substituted or unsubstituted with a halogen, and R.sub.5 is a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 alkylene group substituted or unsubstituted with a halogen or a C.sub.4-C.sub.10 arylene group substituted or unsubstituted with a halogen.