An electrode active material that can provide an alkali metal battery having a longer charge/discharge life and a higher capacity is provided. The electrode active material for an alkali metal battery is represented by formula: Aa1MSa2Xa3 wherein A is selected from Li and Na; M is selected from V, Nb, Ta, Ti, Zr, Hf, Cr, Mo, and W; X is selected from F, Cl, Br, I, CO3, SO4, NO3, BH4, BF4, PF6, CIO4, CF3SO3, (CF3SO2) 2N, (C2F5SO2) 2N, (FSO2) 2N, and [B(C2O4)2]; a1 is 1 to 9; a2 is 2 to 6; when a3 is 3 and a3 is 0, a2 is not 4; and when M does not include V, a3>0.

A method for synthesizing a ferroelectric-semiconductor composite material with enhanced electrocatalytic and energy storage properties. The process involves synthesizing BiVO.sub.4 powder by mixing Bi.sub.2O.sub.3 and V.sub.2O.sub.5 with ethanol, grinding the mixture for about 3 hours, pressing into a pellet, and calcining it between 500-1000 C. for 2-6 hours, followed by re-calcination at 700 C. for 2 hours. In parallel, BaTiO.sub.3 powder is synthesized by mixing and grinding BaCO.sub.3 and TiO.sub.2 for 4 hours, pelletizing the mixture, and calcining it at 1300 C. for 4 hours. The resulting BiVO.sub.4 and BaTiO.sub.3 powders are mixed in molar ratios of (1x):x and ground for approximately 1 hour to form a uniform mixture, which is then pressed into a pellet and calcined at 700 C. for 4 hours. Upon cooling, a (1x)BaTiO.sub.3+xBiVO.sub.4 composite is obtained. This composite exhibits synergistic properties advantageous for electrocatalysis and energy storage applications.

An electrode active material for lithium-ion secondary batteries that has a sufficiently high initial capacity, improved charge-and-discharge cycle characteristics, and improved coulombic efficiency in the mid-term charge-and-discharge cycles can be obtained by a phosphorus-containing low-crystalline vanadium sulfide comprising vanadium, phosphorus, and sulfur as constituent elements, the composition ratio of the phosphorus to the vanadium (P/V) being 0.1 to 1.0 in terms of the molar ratio, the composition ratio of the sulfur to the vanadium (S/V) being 4.00 to 10.00 in terms of the molar ratio.

A method of preparing bismuth vanadate particles is described. The bismuth vanadate particles prepared via ultrasonication and hydrothermal treatment exhibit controlled morphology (e.g., octahedral shape) and crystallinity (e.g., tetragonal crystal symmetry). A photoelectrode containing bismuth vanadate particles and a method of using the photoelectrode in a photoelectrochemical cell for water splitting is also provided.

A vanadium oxide composite of the present disclosure includes: a particle including a vanadium oxide represented by a composition formula (1) Li.sub.3+x+aV.sub.1xM.sub.xO.sub.4+a/2, and an electrically conductive material at least partially coating a surface of the particle. In the composition formula (1), 0<a<1 and 0x<1 are satisfied, and M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of a tetravalent metal element and a tetravalent metalloid element. The vanadium oxide composite has an average particle size of 0.5 m or more and 5.0 m or less.

An improved method for recovering metals from spent supported catalysts, including spent supported hydroprocessing catalysts. The method and associated processes comprising the method are useful to recover spent supported catalyst metals used in the petroleum and chemical processing industries. The method generally involves a combination of a pyrometallurgical and a hydrometallurgical method and includes forming a potassium carbonate calcine from the spent supported catalyst containing Group VIIIB/Group VIB/Group VB metal compound(s) combined with potassium carbonate, and extracting and recovering soluble Group VIB metal and soluble Group VB metal compounds from the potassium carbonate calcine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a negative thermal expansion material having better negative thermal expansion characteristics. The present invention is a negative thermal expansion material, comprising a copper vanadium composite oxide represented by the following general formula (1): Cu.sub.xCa.sub.yV.sub.zO.sub.t. In the general formula (1), 0<x<2.50, 0<y<2.00, 1.70z2.30, 6.00t9.00, and 1.00x+y3.00.

Materials, designs, methods of manufacture, and devices are provided for an anode material for a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. For example, an anode material may include Li.sub.3xV.sub.2yO.sub.5z, wherein 0x7, 0y1, and z may be based on the charge resulting from Li.sub.3x and V.sub.2y. Also, a cell can include a lithiated anode material. The lithiated anode material may include Li.sub.3xV.sub.2y O.sub.5z. The lithiated anode material may be casted on a first substrate to form a lithiated anode, having a separator stacked on the lithiated anode. The separator may include electrolytes. A cathode can be stacked on the separator. The cathode being formed by casting a cathode material on a second substrate.