A composite nanomaterial of ZnO impregnated by, e.g., a green copper phthalocyanine compound (CuPc) can be an efficient solar light photocatalyst for water remediation. The composite may include hollow shell microspheres and hollow nanospheres of CuPc-ZnO. CuPc may function as a templating and/or structure modifying agent, e.g., for forming hollow microspheres and/or nanospheres of ZnO particles. The composite can photocatalyze the degradation of organic pollutants such as crystal violet (CV) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid as well as microbes in water under solar light irradiation. The ZnO—CuPc composite can be stable and recyclable under solar irradiation.

The present invention relates to an oxide sintered material that can be used suitably as a sputtering target for forming an oxide semiconductor film using a sputtering method, a method of producing the oxide sintered material, a sputtering target including the oxide sintered material, and a method of producing a semiconductor device 10 including an oxide semiconductor film 14 formed using the oxide sintered material.

A positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery includes a lithium nickel-based composite oxide including a secondary particle in which a plurality of plate-shaped primary particles are agglomerated; and a lithium manganese composite oxide having at least two crystal lattice structures, wherein the secondary particle has a regular array structure in which (003) planes of the primary particles are oriented in a vertical direction with respect to the surface of the secondary particle.

Porous metal oxide microspheres are prepared via a process comprising forming a liquid dispersion of polymer nanoparticles and a metal oxide; forming liquid droplets of the dispersion; drying the droplets to provide polymer template microspheres comprising polymer nanospheres; and removing the polymer nanospheres from the template microspheres to provide the porous metal oxide microspheres. The porous microspheres exhibit saturated colors and are suitable as colorants for a variety of end-uses.

A film-forming powder containing a rare earth oxyfluoride has an average particle size D50 of 0.6-15 μm, a total volume of 10 μm pores of 0.51-1.5 cm.sup.3/g as measured by mercury porosimetry, and a BET surface area of 3-50 m.sup.2/g is suitable for forming a dense film in high yields or deposition rates and high productivity. The film-forming powder having a greater pore volume can be prepared by forming a rare earth ammonium fluoride complex salt on surfaces of rare earth oxide particles to provide precursor particles, and heat treating the precursor particles at a temperature of 350 to 700° C.

A negative active material includes a carbon material. The carbon material satisfies the following relationship: 6<Gr/K<16, Gr is a graphitization degree of the carbon material, measured by X-ray diffraction; and K is a ratio Id/Ig of a peak intensity Id of the carbon material at a wavenumber of 1250 cm.sup.−1 to 1650 cm.sup.−1 to a peak intensity Ig of the carbon material at a wavenumber of 1500 cm.sup.−1 to 1650 cm.sup.−1, and is measured by using Raman spectroscopy, and K is 0.06 to 0.15.

Disclosed herein are compositions containing zirconium and cerium having a surprisingly small particle size. The compositions disclosed herein contain zirconium, cerium, optionally yttrium, and optionally one or more other rare earth oxides other than cerium and yttrium. The compositions exhibit a particle size characterized by a D.sub.90 value of about 5 μm to about 30 μm and a D.sub.99 value of about 5 um to about 40 um. Further disclosed are processes of producing these compositions using oxalic acid and supercritical drying in the process. The compositions can be used as a catalyst and/or part of a catalytic system. The composition is prepared by co-precipitation using oxalic acid and supercritical drying.

A plate-like alumina particle, in which a ratio I (006)/I (113) of a peak intensity 1(006) at 20=41.6±0.3 degrees which corresponds to a (006) face to a peak intensity I(113) at 20=43.3±0.3 degrees which corresponds to a (113) face of diffraction peaks obtained by X-ray diffraction measurement using a Cu—Kα ray, is 0.2 or more. A method for manufacturing the plate-like alumina particle including mixing an aluminum compound including an aluminum element, a molybdenum compound including a molybdenum element, and a shape-controlling agent to produce a mixture and firing the mixture.

A positive electrode active material, and a positive electrode and a lithium secondary battery including the same are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a positive electrode active material includes a lithium composite transition metal oxide containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese and having a nickel content for 60 mol % or more, based on metals (M) excluding lithium, and is in the form of single particles having an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of 1 to 10 μm, wherein a 100-nm region extending from the surface toward the center of a single particle has crystal structures of a Fd3M and a Fm3m space group, and a phase ratio is 0.2 to 0.7, which is a ratio of a first portion of a maximum straight length of the 100-nm region occupied by the crystal structure of the Fd3M space group to a second portion occupied by the crystal structure of the Fm3m space group.

A lithium transition metal oxide which is capable of minimizing a side reaction with an electrolyte, thereby suppressing the generation of gas during charging and discharging of a lithium secondary battery is provided. The lithium transition metal oxide is a lithium cobalt oxide which contains a hetero-element, wherein the hetero-element includes a 4th period transition metal; and at least one selected from the group consisting of a group 2 element, a group 13 element, a group 14 element, a 5th period transition metal, and a 6th period transition metal. The lithium transition metal oxide has a cumulative 50% particle diameter (D50) of 10.0 μm to 25.0 μm and a ratio (D.sub.max/D.sub.min) of a maximum particle diameter (D.sub.max) to a minimum particle diameter (D.sub.min) of 10.0 to 60.0 when measured by laser diffraction scattering particle size distribution.