Methods of synthesizing Bi.sub.2S.sub.3—CdS particles in the form of spheres as well as properties of these Bi.sub.2S.sub.3—CdS particles are described. Methods of photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants employing these Bi.sub.2S.sub.3—CdS particles and methods of preventing or reducing microbial growth on a surface by applying these Bi.sub.2S.sub.3—CdS particles in the form of a solution or an antimicrobial product onto the surface are also specified.

The present invention relates to a particulate filler which has a coating on support particles in each case surrounding the latter, which comprises a titanium dioxide doped with niobium and at least one further element, to a process for the preparation of a particulate filler of this type and to the use thereof, in particular as varistor filler having nonlinear electrical properties in coating compositions and moulding compounds.

A method for modifying surface wettability of a surface of a solid substrate may include contacting the surface of the solid substrate with a brine solution containing carbon nanodots. The carbon nanodots may have carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen as constituent elements and may include one or more functional groups disposed at outer surfaces of the carbon nanodots. The brine solution has a salinity of greater than 30,000 TDS. A concentration of carbon nanodots in the brine solution is less than or equal to 500 ppmw. Contacting the solid substrate with the brine solution comprising the carbon nanodots is characterized by a contact duration, a contact volume, or both, that is sufficient to reduce the oil wettability of the surface of the solid substrate by at least 15%, as defined by a contact angle of a crude oil droplet contacted with the surface of the solid substrate.

The solid electrolyte material consists essentially of Li, Ti, Al, M, and F. Here, M is at least one selected from the group consisting of Zr and Mg.

A solid electrolyte material is made of Li, Ca, Y, Gd, X, O, and H, where X is at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I; and the molar ratio of O to the sum of Y and Gd is greater than 0 and less than 0.82.

The solid electrolyte material of the present disclosure is a solid electrolyte material made of Li, Ca, Y, Gd, X, and O, where X is at least one selected from the group consisting of F, Cl, Br, and I; the molar ratio of O to the sum of Y and Gd in the entire solid electrolyte material is greater than 0 and 0.42 or less; and O is present in a surface region of the solid electrolyte material.

Porous carbon particles, and a positive electrode active material and a lithium secondary battery including the same. This may improve the energy density of the lithium secondary battery by applying a porous electrode containing micropores and mesopores and having a uniform size distribution and shape as a positive electrode material.

The present invention relates to composite particles containing silicon and carbon, wherein a domain size region of vacancies of 2 nm or less is 44% by volume or more and 70% by volume or less when volume distribution information of domain sizes obtained by fitting a small-angle X-ray scattering spectrum of the composite particles with a spherical model in a carbon-vacancy binary system is accumulated in ascending order, and a true density calculated by dry density measurement by a constant volume expansion method using helium gas is 1.80 g/cm.sup.3 or more and 2.20 g/cm.sup.3 or less.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a spherical particle material in which the particle size distribution is easily controlled. This method has: a granulation step of granulating a raw particle material formed of an inorganic material having a D50 of not larger than 5 μm to form a granulated body; and a spherizing step of heating and melting the granulated body to form the spherical particle material having a D50 larger than a D50 of the raw particle material. A melting method is used as a basic method for manufacturing the spherical particle material having a necessary particle size distribution. The granulated body is used to manufacture the spherical particle material having the necessary particle size distribution by the melting method.

Compounds that can be used as cathode active materials for lithium ion batteries are described. In some embodiments, the cathode active material includes the compound Li.sub.xNi.sub.aM.sub.bN.sub.cO.sub.2 where M is selected from Mn, Ti, Zr, Ge, Sn, Te and a combination thereof; N is selected from Mg, Be, Ca, Sr, Ba, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, and a combination thereof; 0.9<x<1.1; 0.7<a<1; 0<b<0.3; 0<c<0.3; and a+b+c=1. Other cathode active materials, precursors, and methods of manufacture are presented.