There is disclosed a method of making a surface-modified alkali metal material for electrochemical use, the method comprising bringing a barrier agent into frictional contact with an alkali metal substrate to form a tribochemical barrier layer on the substrate. Also disclosed is a surface-modified alkali metal material for electrochemical use, the material comprising an alkali metal substrate bearing a tribochemical barrier layer.

An electrode for a lithium battery contains a metal layer coated with a coating layer containing an organic binder and a metal compound. The metal compound is selected from aluminium oxide, silicon dioxide, zirconium oxide, mixed oxides including zirconium, mixed oxides including aluminium, lithium zirconium phosphate, and mixtures thereof. The metal compound is made of aggregates of primary particles with a number mean primary particle size d.sub.50 of 5 nm-100 nm, obtained by a pyrogenic process. The weight ratio of the metal compound to the organic binder in the coating layer is from 0.1 to 10.

A negative electrode material includes a silicon-based material, where a particle of the silicon-based material includes at least one recessed portion, and the recessed portion is 50 nm to 20 μm in width, and 50 nm to 10 μm in depth. The recessed structure leaves room for the silicon-based material to swell, thereby solving the problem of large volume swelling of the silicon-based material. In addition, when the silicon-based material with the recessed structure is composited with a carbon material, a conductive agent, and the like to form a negative electrode plate, small particles of the carbon material and the conductive agent are embedded into the recessed portion of the silicon-based material, solving the problem of low compacted density of the silicon-based negative electrode material with a recessed structure, and compensating for the low volumetric energy density of the recessed structure.

The fabrication of single-crystalline ionically conductive materials and related articles and systems are generally described.

An lead-acid battery is described. The battery includes a carbon fiber electrode having a paste containing a novel additive including one or more carbons, organic expanders, and barium sulfate.

There is provided a method of synthesizing a porous carbon-sulfur composite comprising the step of carbonizing a carbon material having a metal-organic framework (MOF) at a temperature of 800-1000° C. to produce a porous carbon, mixing and heating the porous carbon with sulfur to infuse the sulfur (melt diffusion) into the pores of the porous carbon and removing excess sulfur not infused into the pores or present on the surface of the porous carbon. There is also provided a cathode comprising the porous carbon-sulfur composite and a method of preparing the cathode by mixing with conductive carbon and a polymer binder. The cathode finds use in an electrochemical cell comprising a sodium or lithium anode.

There is provided a method of synthesizing a porous carbon-sulfur composite comprising the step of carbonizing a carbon material having a metal-organic framework (MOF) at a temperature of 800-1000° C. to produce a porous carbon, mixing and heating the porous carbon with sulfur to infuse the sulfur (melt diffusion) into the pores of the porous carbon and removing excess sulfur not infused into the pores or present on the surface of the porous carbon. There is also provided a cathode comprising the porous carbon-sulfur composite and a method of preparing the cathode by mixing with conductive carbon and a polymer binder. The cathode finds use in an electrochemical cell comprising a sodium or lithium anode.

The present invention is related to a manufacturing method of a negative active material for a lithium secondary battery, a negative active material for a lithium secondary battery manufactured by the method, and a lithium secondary battery including the same. According to one embodiment, it is provided that: a method of manufacturing a negative active material for lithium secondary battery, comprising: coating a negative active material precursor containing Si with crude tar or soft pitch; and annealing an obtained coating product, wherein, the crude tar contains a low molecular weight component that can be removed by a distillation process in an amount of 20 wt % or less.

A doped electrode may be manufactured by doping an active material included in an electrode with an alkali metal in a dope solution containing a first aprotic solvent and an alkali metal salt. The doped electrode may be cleaned with a cleaning solution containing a second aprotic solvent that has a boiling point lower than that of the first aprotic solvent. The cleaning solution may be controlled such that a content ratio of the first aprotic solvent in the cleaning solution is 8 vol % or lower.

The disclosure relates to metal phosphorothioates, batteries comprising metal phosphorothioate, cells comprising metal phosphorothioate, and methods of making thereof.