The adhesion between metal foil serving as a current collector and a negative electrode active material is increased to enable long-term reliability. An electrode active material layer (including a negative electrode active material or a positive electrode active material) is formed over a base, a metal film is formed over the electrode active material layer by sputtering, and then the base and the electrode active material layer are separated at the interface therebetween; thus, an electrode is formed. The electrode active material particles in contact with the metal film are bonded by being covered with the metal film formed by the sputtering. The electrode active material is used for at least one of a pair of electrodes (a negative electrode or a positive electrode) in a lithium-ion secondary battery.

[Problem] A non-aqueous electrolyte battery is provided that shows good cycle performance and good storage performance under high temperature conditions and exhibits high reliability even with a battery configuration featuring high capacity. A method of manufacturing the battery is also provided. [Means for Solve the Problem] A non-aqueous electrolyte battery includes: a positive electrode having a positive electrode active material layer containing a positive electrode active material; a negative electrode having a negative electrode active material layer containing a negative electrode active material; a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; an electrode assembly including the positive electrode, the negative electrode, and the separator; and a non-aqueous electrolyte impregnated in the electrode assembly, characterized in that: the positive electrode active material contains at least cobalt or manganese; and a coating layer is formed on a surface of the negative electrode active material layer, the coating layer including filler particles and a binder.

A negative electrode active material layer containing at least one selected from silicon and a silicon compound as a negative electrode active material is formed, and an amount of lithium exceeding an amount corresponding to a theoretical capacity of the negative electrode active material layer is brought into contact with the negative electrode active material layer so as to prepare a negative electrode. A positive electrode containing a lithium-absorption material capable of irreversibly absorbing lithium is prepared. The positive electrode, the negative electrode, a separator, and a nonaqueous electrolyte are enclosed inside an outer enclosure. A chemical conversion treatment of the negative electrode active material is performed with the lithium brought into contact with the negative electrode active material layer.

Supplemental lithium can be used to stabilize lithium ion batteries with lithium rich metal oxides as the positive electrode active material. Dramatic improvements in the specific capacity at long cycling have been obtained. The supplemental lithium can be provided with the negative electrode, or alternatively as a sacrificial material that is subsequently driven into the negative electrode active material. The supplemental lithium can be provided to the negative electrode active material prior to assembly of the battery using electrochemical deposition. The positive electrode active materials can comprise a layered-layered structure comprising manganese as well as nickel and/or cobalt.

A method for the formation of lithium includes a layer on a substrate using an atomic layer deposition method. The method includes the sequential pulsing of a lithium precursor through a reaction chamber for deposition upon a substrate. Using further oxidizing pulses and or other metal containing precursor pulses, an electrolyte suitable for use in thin film batteries may be manufactured.

Provided are separators for use in an electrochemical cell comprising (a) an inorganic oxide and (b) an organic polymer, wherein the inorganic oxide comprises organic substituents. Also provided are electrochemical cells comprising such separators.

The present disclosure relates generally to an electrode produced with a non-toxic solvent, resulting in a homogeneous mixture with uniform distributions of a conductive additive and a binder. Electrodes produced according to the present disclosure feature narrow binder particle size distribution, which distinguishes such electrodes from typical electrodes produced via a N-Methyl-Pyrrolidone (NMP) process. The resulting microstructure promotes the flow of current through the electrode and has an improved cycling stability due, in part, to the binder's and the conductive additive's ability to bind with the active material particles used in the fabrication of the electrode.

Provided are separators for use in an electrochemical cell comprising (a) an inorganic oxide and (b) an organic polymer, wherein the inorganic oxide comprises organic substituents. Also provided are electrochemical cells comprising such separators.

Provided are battery electrode structures that maintain high mass loadings (i.e., large amounts per unit area) of high capacity active materials in the electrodes without deteriorating their cycling performance. These mass loading levels correspond to capacities per electrode unit area that are suitable for commercial electrodes even though the active materials are kept thin and generally below their fracture limits. A battery electrode structure may include multiple template layers. An initial template layer may include nanostructures attached to a substrate and have a controlled density. This initial layer may be formed using a controlled thickness source material layer provided, for example, on a substantially inert substrate. Additional one or more template layers are then formed over the initial layer resulting in a multilayer template structure with specific characteristics, such as a surface area, thickness, and porosity. The multilayer template structure is then coated with a high capacity active material.

Provided are methods of preparing a separator/anode assembly for use in an electric current producing cell, wherein the assembly comprises an anode current collector layer interposed between a first anode layer and a second anode layer and a porous separator layer on the side of the first anode layer opposite to the anode current collector layer, wherein the first anode layer is coated directly on the separator layer.