A polymer solid electrolyte having high ion conductivity, heat resistance and dimensional stability, and having excellent oxidation stability and voltage stability, and a lithium secondary battery including the same.

An electrolyte composition for a lithium secondary battery includes a lithium salt comprising a nitrogen element, a first additive having a LUMO (lowest occupied molecular orbital) value lower than a LUMO value of the lithium salt, and a second additive having a LUMO value higher than the LUMO value of the lithium salt.

An electropositive metal electrode coated by an ion-selective conformable polymer provides the negative electrode and the solid-state electrolyte for a rechargeable bi-electrolyte displacement battery that further includes a molten salt electrolyte having a melting temperature below 140° C. interposed between the conformable polymer coating and a positive electrode. Suitable electropositive metals include lithium, sodium, magnesium, and aluminum and the molten salt incorporates a soluble salt of the metal of the negative electrode. Positive electrodes may incorporate metals including Fe, Ni, Bi, Pb, Zn, Sn, and Cu, and thanks to the ion-selective conformable solid-state electrolyte the molten salt is able to incorporate a soluble salt of the metal of the positive electrode. The conformable polymer-coated electropositive metal electrode may be manufactured by a process involving electroplating electropositive metal through a conformable polymer-coated conductive substrate. The conformable polymer-coated conductive substrate may be prepared by coating the conductive substrate in a conformable polymer solution followed by evaporating the solvent. Alternatively, an electropositive metal electrode may be coated directly with the conformable polymer.

A lithium ion secondary battery includes a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolytic solution containing a polycyclic aromatic compound.

The electrolyte for a lithium secondary battery includes: a lithium salt; a solvent; and a functional additive, wherein the functional additive includes 1,2-bis(maleimido)ethane, represented by the following formula 1: ##STR00001##

Described herein are solid-state electrolyte materials having high water content. The electrolyte material may include Li, T, X, A, O, and, optionally, Y, wherein T is at least one element selected from the group consisting of P, As, Si, Ge, Al, and B; X and, when present, Y is a halogen, a pseudohalogen, or a superhalogen; and A is at least one element selected from the group consisting of S, Se, and N. The electrolyte material is made generally by exposing the electrolyte precursors to a predetermined amount of water during manufacturing. Also described herein are methods of making the solid-state electrolyte material, processes for making the solid-state electrolyte material, and electrochemical cells comprising the solid-state electrolyte material.

A thermal battery can include: an anode of lithium alloy; a metal-fluoride cathode having Ni; and an electrolyte composition in contact with the anode and cathode. A thermal battery can also include: an anode of lithium alloy; a metal-fluoride cathode having an oxide selected from V.sub.2O.sub.5 or LiVO.sub.3; and an electrolyte composition in contact with the anode and cathode. In one aspect, a metal of the metal fluoride cathode includes Ni, Fe, V, Cr, Mn, Co, or mixture thereof. In one aspect, the metal-fluoride cathode includes NiF.sub.2, FeF.sub.3, VF.sub.3, CrF.sub.3, MnF.sub.3, CoF.sub.3, or a mixture thereof. A method of providing electricity can include: providing an electronic device having a thermal battery with a metal-fluoride cathode having Ni and/or having an oxide selected from V.sub.2O.sub.5 or LiVO.sub.3; and discharging the thermal battery to provide electricity.

A molten sodium-based battery comprises a robust, highly Na-ion conductive, zero-crossover separator and a fully inorganic, fully liquid, highly cyclable molten cathode that operates at low temperatures.

Electrochemical cells operating with molten electrodes and electrolyte, where the cathode is an alloy of a metal and metalloid, may be assembled in a discharged state by combining first an anodic metal with a cathodic metal to form a binary alloy. This binary alloy is then placed in a cell housing with the metalloid and the electrolyte, all in the solid state. The temperature is raised to, and maintained at, a temperature above the melting point of the highest melting component until components assembled into horizontal layers of electrolyte above a layer of a ternary alloy formed by the combination of the binary alloy and the metalloid. A charge and discharged cycle is then run through the electrochemical cell.

A positive electrode composition is presented. The composition includes granules that comprise an electroactive metal, an alkali metal halide, and a metal sulfide composition that is substantially-free of oxygen. A molar ratio of the electroactive metal to an amount of sulfur in the metal sulfide composition is between about 1.5:1 and about 50:1. The positive electrode composition is substantially free of iron oxide, iron sulfate, cobalt oxide and cobalt sulfate. An energy storage device and a related energy storage system are also described.