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.

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 pertains to a positive electrode active material for a lithium secondary battery, the positive electrode active material having a layered structure and containing lithium, transition metals, fluorine (F), and oxygen, wherein the layered structure includes a lithium layer consisting solely of lithium and a transition metal layer consisting solely of transition metals including nickel, the nickel includes Ni.sup.3+ and Ni.sup.2+ in terms of oxidation number, and the ratio (Ni.sup.2+/Ni.sup.3+) of Ni.sup.2+ to Ni.sup.3+ increases as the fluorine content increases.

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.

Methods and systems for the electrochemical conversion of halogenated compounds are provided. In some embodiments, a method comprises converting a halogenated compound (e.g., fluorinated gas) to relatively non-hazardous products via one or more electrochemical reactions. The electrochemical reaction(s) may occur under relatively mild conditions (e.g., low temperature) and/or without the aid of a catalyst. In some embodiments, the electrochemical reaction may produce a relatively large amount of energy. In some such cases, systems, described herein, may be designed to facilitate the conversion of the halogenated compound (e.g., SF.sub.6, NF.sub.3) while harnessing (e.g., storing, converting) the energy associated with the electrochemical reaction. System and methods described herein may be used in a wide variety of applications, including waste management (e.g., environmental remediation, greenhouse gas mitigation), energy recovery (e.g., industrial energy recovery), and primary batteries (e.g., metal-gas batteries).

Articles and methods including layers for protection of electrodes in electrochemical cells are provided. As described herein, a layer, such as a protective layer for an electrode, may comprise a plurality of particles (e.g., crystalline inorganic particles, amorphous inorganic particles). In some aspects, at least a portion of the plurality of particles (e.g., inorganic particles) are fused to one another. For instance, in some aspects, the layer may be formed by aerosol deposition or another suitable process that involves subjecting the particles to a relatively high velocity such that fusion of particles occurs during deposition. In some cases, the protective layer may be porous.

The present disclosure relates to a lithium-sulfur battery cathode. The lithium-sulfur battery cathode comprises a carbon nanotube sponge and a plurality of sulfur nanoparticles. Wherein the carbon nanotube sponge comprises a plurality of micropores. The plurality of sulfur nanoparticles are uniformly distributed in the plurality of micropores. The present disclosure also relates a method for making the lithium-sulfur battery cathode and a lithium-sulfur battery using the lithium-sulfur battery cathode.

A separator for a lithium-sulfur battery and a lithium-sulfur battery including the same are provided. More particularly, a separator for a lithium-sulfur battery including a porous substrate; and a coating layer present on at least one surface of the porous substrate, wherein the coating layer includes a polymer including a main chain, with a functional group having a non-covalent electron pair present in the main chain and a side chain with an aromatic hydrocarbon group present in the side chain.

A battery comprising an acidified metal oxide (“AMO”) material, preferably in monodisperse nanoparticulate form 20 nm or less in size, having a pH <7 when suspended in a 5 wt % aqueous solution and a Hammett function H.sub.0 >−12, at least on its surface.