Process for making a lithiated oxide, said process comprising the following steps: (a) making a particulate hydroxide, oxide or oxyhydroxide of nickel, and, optionally, at least one of Co and Mn and, by combining an aqueous solution of sodium or potassium hydrox-ide with an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble salt of nickel and, optionally, a water-soluble salt of Co, Mn, Al, Ti, Zr, W, Mo, Ga, Nb, Ta, or Mg, (b) adding a source of lithium, (c) treating the mixture obtained from step (b) thermally at at least two different temperatures: (c1) at 300 to 500° C. under an atmosphere that may comprise oxygen, (c2) at 500 to 600° C. under an atmosphere of oxygen, wherein the temperature in step (c2) is set to be higher than in step (c1).

The positive electrode active material of the present disclosure includes a complex oxide represented by a formula (1): LiNi.sub.xMe.sub.1-xO.sub.2 as a main component and contains water in an amount of 2.9 ppm by mass or more and 44.7 ppm by mass or less. Here, x satisfies 0.5≤x≤1, and Me is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Co, and Al.

The composite particle of the present invention includes an alumina particle having a card-house structure which is formed of three or more pieces of plate-like alumina and in which the pieces of plate-like alumina are fixed to each other; and an inorganic coating part provided on a surface of the plate-like alumina.

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.

Disclosed herein are ceramic materials, such as bismuth substituted garnets, which can have high curie temperatures and high dielectric constants. In certain implementations, indium can be incorporated into the ceramic to improve certain properties and to avoid calcium compensation. The ceramic materials disclosed herein can be particular advantageous for below resonance applications.

A GaON/ZnO photoelectrode involving a nanoarchitectured photocatalytic material deposited onto a surface of a conducting substrate, and the nanoarchitectured photocatalytic material containing gallium oxynitride nanoparticles interspersed in zinc oxide nanoparticles, as well as methods of preparing the GaON/ZnO photoelectrode. A method of using the GaON/ZnO photoelectrode for solar water electrolysis is also provided.

A positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to an aspect of the present disclosure contains a lithium metal composite oxide having secondary particles formed by the aggregation of primary particles, wherein W is present on the surface and inside of the secondary particles of the lithium metal composite oxide. The amount of W present on the surface of the secondary particles of the lithium metal composite oxide represented by general formula LiαNiaCobAlcMdWeOβ (in the formula, 0.9≤α≤1.2, 0.8≤a≤0.96, 0<b≤0.10, 0<c≤0.10, 0≤d≤0.1, 0.0003≤e/(a+b+c+d+e)≤0.002, 1.9≤β≤2.1, a+b+c+d=1, and M is at least one element selected from among Mn, Fe, Ti, Si, Nb, Zr, Mo, and Zn) is 25-45% of the total amount of W present on the surface and inside of the secondary particles of the lithium metal composite oxide.

The perovskite compound according to the invention has a cubic perovskite structure, has high catalytic activity in oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, and has excellent durability, and thus, can be used as a catalyst of electrochemical devices, particularly as a fuel cell catalyst.

An oxide-based solid electrolyte with a high lithium ion conductance is provided. A lithium ion-conducting garnet type oxide includes Li, La, Ga, Zr, a halogen element, and oxygen. A lithium ion conductivity at room temperature is not lower than 1.0×10.sup.−3 S/cm. A proportion of Ga with respect to 1 mole of the oxide may be not larger than 0.5 moles.

The halogen element may be at least one type selected from the group consisting of Cl, Br, and I, and a proportion of Li with respect to 1 mole of the oxide may be not smaller than 6.1 moles and smaller than 6.5 moles.

A lithium secondary battery which includes an electrode assembly in which a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and a separator interposed between the positive electrode plate and the negative electrode plate are wound in one direction, a battery can in which the electrode assembly is accommodated, and a sealing body which seals an open end of the battery can. The positive electrode plate includes positive electrode active material comprising single particles, quasi-single particles, or a combination thereof, and the positive electrode active material has D.sub.min of 1.0 μm or more.