A solid electrolyte powder includes ion-conductive LATP powder that is obtained by heating and melting raw materials at a predetermined temperature to prepare molten LATP mixture, cooling the molten LATP mixture to prepare a crystalline material having a NASICON structure, crushing the crystalline material to prepare crystal powder having a particle size of 1 μm to 10 μm, and performing a heat treatment on the crystal powder in air at a temperature of 800° C. to 1000° C. for a predetermined period of time.

A cathode active material contains a secondary particle containing or consisting of a group of a plurality of primary particles. At least some of the primary particles disposed on the surface of the secondary particle include first primary particle in the form of flakes having a pair of first crystal faces facing toward each other. The first crystal faces are arranged in a radial direction, ends of the first crystal faces pair are provided with a plurality of crystal faces different from the first crystal faces to connect the ends of the first crystal faces pair. Longitudinal cross-sections of the first primary particle contain a pair of first crystal faces spaced apart from each other. Second and third crystal faces are disposed in the outermost surface of the secondary particle to be connected to each other at an angle.

To provide a process for producing a cathode active material capable of obtaining a lithium ion secondary battery which has a high discharge capacity and a high initial efficiency, a cathode active material, a positive electrode for a lithium ion secondary battery, and a lithium ion secondary battery. A process for producing a cathode active material, which comprises a mixing step of mixing a lithium compound, an alkali metal compound other than Li, and a transition metal-containing compound containing at least Ni and Mn to obtain a mixture, a step of firing the mixture at a temperature of from 900 to 1,100° C. to obtain a first lithium-containing composite oxide containing the alkali metal other than Li, and a step of removing the alkali metal other than Li from the first lithium-containing composite oxide to obtain a second lithium-containing composite oxide represented by the following formula:
aLi(Li.sub.1/3Mn.sub.2/3)O.sub.2.Math.(1−a)LiMO.sub.2
wherein 0<a<1, and M is an element containing at least Ni and Mn.

The present disclosure provides, for example, systems and methods for generating carbon particles. Carbon particles may have a total content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of less than or equal to about 0.5 parts per million, a content of benzo[a]pyrene of less than or equal to about 5 parts per billion, and a water spreading pressure that is less than about 5 mJ/m.sup.2. A carbon particle among the carbon particles may comprise less than about 0.3% sulfur by weight or less than or equal to about 0.03% ash by weight.

The present disclosure provides for compositions, methods of making compositions, and methods of using the composition. In an aspect, the composition can be a reactive material that can be used to split a gas such as water or carbon dioxide.

To provide low CTE and low puffing needle coke more stably while dealing with changes in the properties of a feedstock. The low CTE and low puffing needle coke is obtained by mixing and coking a needle coke main feedstock of a coal tar-based heavy oil or petroleum-based heavy oil having a weak hydrogen donating property with a PDQI value expressed by equation (1) of less than 5.0, with a secondary feedstock having a strong hydrogen donating property with a PDQI value expressed by equation (1) of 5.0 or more, and calcining the obtained raw coke. [Equation (1)] PDQI=H %×10×(HNβ/H), wherein H % is a hydrogen amount (% by weight) obtained by elemental analysis, and HNβ/H is a ratio of β naphthenic hydrogen to total hydrogen measured by .sup.1H-NMR.

A hydrotalcite-like granular material having a grain size of 0.24 mm or larger is produced by drying a material that contains at least a hydrotalcite-like substance and that has a water content of 70% or lower at equal to or lower than a temperature at which the hydrotalcite-like substance is dehydrated of crystal water contained therein, preferably at 90° C. or higher and 110° C. or lower, such that the resulting hydrotalcite-like granular material has a water content of 10% or higher. In this manner, a hydrotalcite-like granular material that has a stable morphology and a high anion exchange performance and that can be produced at a low cost can be produced.

Provided is a chlorine-containing positive electrode active material that can impart excellent high-temperature storage characteristic to a lithium ion secondary battery. The positive electrode active material disclosed herein includes 0.1% by mass or more and 3% by mass or less of Cl. Further, in the positive electrode active material disclosed herein, the ratio of a peak intensity of a (003) plane to a peak intensity of a (104) plane in Miller indexes hlk that is determined by powder X-ray diffraction is 0.8 or more and 1.5 or less.

Three-dimensional (3D) hollow nanosphere electrocatalysts that convert CO.sub.2 into formate with high current density and Faradaic efficiency (FE). The SnO.sub.2 nanospheres were constructed from small, interconnected SnO.sub.2 nanocrystals. The size of the constituent SnO.sub.2 nanocrystals was controlled between 2-10 nm by varying the calcination temperature and observed a clear correlation between nanocrystal size and formate production. In situ Raman and time-dependent X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed that SnO.sub.2 nanocrystals were reduced to metallic Sn and resisted microparticle agglomeration during CO.sub.2 reduction. The nanosphere catalysts outperformed comparably sized, non-structured SnO.sub.2 nanoparticles and commercially-available SnO.sub.2 with a heterogeneous size distribution.

To provide an oxide semiconductor with a novel structure. Such an oxide semiconductor is composed of an aggregation of a plurality of InGaZnO.sub.4 crystals each of which is larger than or equal to 1 nm and smaller than or equal to 3 nm, and in the oxide semiconductor, the plurality of InGaZnO.sub.4 crystals have no orientation. Alternatively, such an oxide semiconductor is such that a diffraction pattern like a halo pattern is observed by electron diffraction measurement performed by using an electron beam with a probe diameter larger than or equal to 300 nm, and that a diffraction pattern having a plurality of spots arranged circularly is observed by electron diffraction measurement performed by using an electron beam with a probe diameter larger than or equal to 1 nm and smaller than or equal to 30 nm.