As for a secondary battery using lithium cobalt oxide as a positive electrode active material, the positive electrode active material with which a decrease in battery capacity due to repeated charge and discharge is inhibited is provided. Alternatively, a positive electrode active material particle which hardly deteriorates is provided. The positive electrode active material includes lithium, cobalt, oxygen, magnesium, aluminum, and fluorine and is a crystal represented by a layered rock-salt structure. The space group of the crystal is represented by R−3m. The concentration of fluorine in a surface portion of the crystal is higher than that inside the crystal. The concentration of magnesium in the surface portion of the crystal is higher than that inside the crystal. The atomic ratio of magnesium to aluminum in the surface portion of the crystal is higher than that inside the crystal.

An electrode material of the present disclosure is an electrode material that includes a compound represented by the chemical formula BaZr.sub.1-x-yM.sub.xCo.sub.yO.sub.3-δ. M is In or Yb, and the chemical formula satisfies 0<x<1, 0<y<1, 0<(x+y)<1, and 0<δ<1. A membrane electrode assembly of the present disclosure includes a first electrode including the electrode material, and an electrolyte membrane provided on a first main surface of the first electrode.

A method of manufacturing a gas sensor for detecting xylene is provided. A method of manufacturing a gas sensor includes reacting a mixed material including a first material containing a cobalt (Co) element and a second material containing a chromium (Cr) element to form a CoCr.sub.2O.sub.4 hollow structure having a hollow shape.

A metal double salt dispersion liquid including an organic solvent and a metal double salt, wherein the metal double salt has a composition represented by M(R.sup.1COO).sub.m-x-y(OH).sub.xA.sub.y(H.sub.2O).sub.z, where M is a metal element, R.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, A is an anion, m is a valence of the metal element M, 0<x+y<m, x>0, y≥0, and z≥0, and when the metal double salt dispersion liquid is subjected to a centrifugal operation at a relative centrifugal force of 10,000 G for 5 minutes, a proportion of metal elements not forming a precipitate to all metal elements contained in a total of the metal double salt dispersion liquid is 10.0 mol % or more.

The present invention generally relates to a method for preparing metal oxide nanosheets. In a preferred embodiment, graphene oxide (GO) or graphite oxide is employed as a template or structure directing agent for the formation of the metal oxide nanosheets, wherein the template is mixed with metal oxide precursor to form a metal oxide precursor-bonded template. Subsequently, the metal oxide precursor-bonded template is calcined to form the metal oxide nanosheets. The present invention also relates to a lithium-ion battery anode comprising the metal oxide nanosheets. In a further preferred embodiment, the battery anode may comprise a reduced template, which is reduced graphene oxide (rGO) or reduced graphite oxide.

A method for making an iron-based oxide magnetic powder includes adding raw material solution containing trivalent iron ions, or trivalent iron ions and ions of a metal element that partially substitutes Fe sites, and an alkaline aqueous solution for neutralizing the raw material solution to a reaction system to adjust the pH of the reaction system to 1.0 or higher and 3.0 or lower. Hydroxycarboxylic acid is added to the obtained reaction solution and thereafter the pH of the reaction system is neutralized to 7.0 or higher and 10.0 or lower. The obtained precipitate of a substituent metal element-containing iron oxyhydroxide is coated with silicon oxide and then heated, whereby an iron-based oxide magnetic powder is obtained with a reduced content of fine and coarse particles, a particle shape close to a perfect sphere, and particles of ε-iron oxide in which Fe sites are partially substituted by other metal elements.

In an aspect, a ferrite composition comprises a Ru—Co.sub.2Z ferrite having the formula: (Ba.sub.3-xM.sub.x)Co.sub.2(M′Ru).sub.yFe.sub.24-2y-zO.sub.41, wherein M is at least one of Sr, Pb, or Ca; M′ is at least one of Co, Zn, Mg, or Cu; x is 1 to 3; y is greater than 0 to 2; and z is −4 to 4. In another aspect, an article comprises the ferrite composition. In yet another aspect, method of making the ferrite composition comprises mixing ferrite precursor compounds comprising Fe, Ba, Co, and Ru; and sintering the ferrite precursor compounds in an oxygen atmosphere to form the Ru—Co.sub.2Z ferrite.

Manganese-cobalt (Mn—Co) spinel oxide nanowire arrays are synthesized at low pressure and low temperature by a hydrothermal method. The method can include contacting a substrate with a solvent, such as water, that includes Mn04- and Co2 ions at a temperature from about 60° C. to about 120° C. The method preferably includes dissolving potassium permanganate (KMn04) in the solvent to yield the Mn04- ions. the substrate is The nanoarrays are useful for reducing a concentration of an impurity, such as a hydrocarbon, in a gas, such as an emission source. The resulting material with high surface area and high materials utilization efficiency can be directly used for environment and energy applications including emission control systems, air/water purifying systems and lithium-ion batteries.

A dispersed iron oxide magnetic powder slurry, in which the average secondary particle diameter of ε-type iron oxide measured with a dynamic light scattering particle size distribution analyzer is 65 nm or less, and which has good dispersibility, is obtained by adding a quaternary ammonium salt serving as a first dispersant and an alkali to a slurry containing ε-type iron oxide particles to bring the pH at 25° C. to 11 or higher, and thereafter adding an organic compound, which is an organic acid serving as a second dispersant and having two or more carboxy groups in the molecule, and in which one type or two types of a hydroxy group and an amino group are bound to carbon that does not constitute a carboxy group other than the carboxy groups to bring the pH at 25° C. of the slurry to 4 or higher and lower than 11.

Zero-Rare Earth Metal (ZREM) and Zero-platinum group metals (ZPGM) compositions of varied binary spinel oxides are disclosed as oxygen storage material (OSM) to be used within TWC systems. The ZREM-ZPGM OSM systems comprise binary non-Cu spinel oxides of Co—Fe, Fe—Mn, Co—Mn, or Mn—Fe. The oxygen storage capacity (OSC) property associated with the non-Cu ZREM-ZPGM OSM systems is determined employing isothermal OSC oscillating condition testing. Further, the OSC test results compare the OSC properties of a ZREM-ZPGM reference OSM system including a Cu—Mn binary spinel oxide and PGM reference catalysts including Ce-based OSMs. The non-Cu spinel oxides ZREM-ZPGM OSM systems exhibit significantly improved OSC properties, which are greater than the OSC property of the Ce-based OSM PGM reference systems.