Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited

The University of Tokyo

Taketsugu Yamamoto

Masami Makidera

Atsushi Terahara

Satoru Kuze

Katsuhiko Iwasaki

Kenji Nakane

Maiko Saka

Hitoshi Miura

Kenji Kasahara

Hiroshi Harada

Masahiko Hata

Chikara Murakami

Tomoyuki Takada

Takashi Sato

Yuichiro Imanari

Takeshi Hattori

Sadanori Yamanaka

Yasunori Nishida

Hiroshi Inukai

Tomoari Satoh

Taiki Yamamoto

Kenichiro Kami

Michihisa Isobe

Hidekazu Yoshida

Hideaki Nakajima

Kazumi Wada

Kazuyuki Tanino

Kunihisa Satoh

Maiko Sakai

Shigekazu Ohmori

Daisuke Nakaji

Chikashi Akamatsu

A measurement method for a laminate substrate is provided. The laminate substrate has: a base substrate; an absorption layer; and a measurement-target layer in this order. The measurement-target layer has a single measurement-target monolayer or a plurality of measurement-target monolayers. The method includes: emitting incident light including light with a wavelength shorter than a threshold wavelength from a side on which the measurement-target layer is positioned, and measuring reflected light and acquiring mutually independent 2n (n is a layer count of the measurement-target monolayers included in the measurement-target layer and is an integer equal to one or larger) or more reflected light-related values for wavelengths equal to the threshold wavelength or shorter; and calculating values related to the measurement-target monolayers for each measurement-target monolayer included in the measurement-target layer using the 2n or more reflected light-related values.

Laminate substrate measurement method, laminate substrate and measurement apparatus

The present invention provides a sodium secondary battery capable of reducing the amount of lithium used, and ensuring a larger discharge capacity maintenance rate when having repeated a charge and discharge, as compared with conventional techniques; and a mixed metal oxide usable as the positive electrode active material therefor. A mixed metal oxide of the present invention comprises Na and Mwherein Mrepresents three or more elements selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co and Ni with an Na:Mmolar ratio being a:1 wherein a is a value falling within the range of more than 0.5 and less than 1. Also, a mixed metal oxide of the present invention is represented by the following formula (1):NaMO&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)wherein Mand a each have the same meaning as above. The positive electrode active material for secondary batteries of the present invention comprises the mixed metal oxide above.

Mixed metal oxide and sodium secondary battery

Disclosed is a sodium secondary battery. The sodium secondary battery comprises a first electrode and a second electrode comprising a carbonaceous material. The carbonaceous material satisfies one or more requirements selected from the group consisting of requirements 1, 2, 3 and 4. Requirement 1: R value (=ID/IG) obtained by Raman spectroscopic measurement is 1.07 to 3. Requirement 2: A value and &#x3c3;value obtained by small angle X-ray scattering measurement are &#x2212;0.5 to 0 and 0 to 0.010, respectively. Requirement 3: for an electrode comprising an electrode mixture obtained by mixing 85 parts by weight of the carbonaceous material with 15 parts by weight of poly(vinylidene fluoride), the carbonaceous material in the electrode after being doped and dedoped with sodium ions is substantially free from pores having a size of not less than 10 nm. Requirement 4: Qvalue obtained by a calorimetric differential thermal analysis is not more than 800 joules/g.

Sodium secondary battery comprising carbonaceous material

Disclosed is a mixed metal oxide comprising Na, M, and M, where Mrepresents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba; and Mrepresents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni, wherein the molar ratio of Na:M:Mis a:b:1, where a is a value within the range of not less than 0.5 and less than 1; b is a value within the range of more than 0 and not more than 0.5; and 'a+b' is a value within the range of more than 0.5 and not more than 1. An electrode having an active material containing the mixed metal oxide is also disclosed. Further disclosed is an electrode containing the electrode active material as well as a sodium secondary battery comprising the electrode as a positive electrode.

Mixed metal oxide, electrode, and sodium secondary battery

An air battery containing an electrode and a polymer film, wherein the polymer film is disposed on the air intake side of the electrode, and the polymer film is a film of a polymer comprising a repeating unit represented by the following formula (1), wherein R, R, and m are defined in the specification.

Air battery having an electrode and polymer film

A sodium secondary battery capable of reducing the amount used of a scarce metal element such as lithium and cobalt and moreover, ensuring a larger discharge capacity after repeating charge/discharge as compared with conventional techniques, and a mixed metal oxide usable as the positive electrode active material therefor. The mixed metal oxide comprises Na, Mn and Mwherein Mis Fe or Ni, with a Na:Mn:Mmolar ratio being a:(1&#x2212;b):b wherein a is a value falling within the range of more than 0.5 and less than 1, and b is a value falling within the range of from 0.001 to 0.5. Another mixed metal oxide is a mixed metal oxide represented by the following formula (1): NaMnMO(1) wherein M, a and b each have the same meaning as above. The positive electrode active material for sodium secondary batteries comprises the mixed metal oxide above.

Disclosed are a positive electrode active material and a method for producing an olivine-type phosphate. The positive electrode active material comprises an olivine-type phosphate represented by the following formula (I), wherein the maximum peak in an X-ray diffraction pattern obtained using a CuK&#x3b1; ray is the peak of the (031) plane of the olivine-type phosphate and the half-value width of the peak is 1.5&#xb0; or less: AMPO(I), wherein A represents one or more elements selected from among alkali metals; M represents one or more elements selected from among transition metals; a is from 0.5 to 1.5; and b is from 0.5 to 1.5. The method for producing an olivine-type phosphate comprises preparing a raw material comprising element A, element M, and phosphorus (P) so that a A:M:P molar ratio may be a:b:1, preliminary calcining the raw material, and mainly calcining the preliminary calcined raw material.

Positive electrode active material, sodium secondary battery, and production method of olivine-type phosphate

The present invention provides a transition metal phosphate and a production process thereof, a positive electrode, and a sodium secondary battery. The transition metal phosphate contains sodium (Na), phosphorus (P) and a transition metal element and having a BET specific surface area of 1 m/g to 50 m/g. The process for producing a transition metal phosphate comprises steps (1) and (2): (1) a step of bringing a phosphorus (P) source, a sodium (Na) source, an M source (M is one or more transition metal elements) and water into contact with each other, and obtaining a liquid material thereby, and (2) a step of separating water from the liquid material and obtaining a transition metal phosphate thereby.

Transition metal phosphate, production process thereof, positive electrode, and sodium secondary battery

The present invention provides a positive electrode active material that can suppress the necessity of performing sieving and is suitable for use in secondary batteries, particularly sodium secondary batteries. Also provided is a powder for a positive electrode active material as a raw material for the positive electrode active material. The powder for a positive electrode active material of the present invention comprises Mn-containing particles. In the cumulative particle size distribution on the volume basis of particles constituting the powder, D50, which is the particle diameter at a 50% cumulation measured from the smallest particle, is in the range of from 0.1 &#x3bc;m to 10 &#x3bc;m, and 90 vol % or more of the particles constituting the powder are in the range of from 0.3 times to 3 times D50. The powder for a positive electrode active material comprises Mn-containing particles, and 90 vol % or more of the particles constituting the powder are in the range of from 0.6 &#x3bc;m to 6 &#x3bc;m. The positive electrode active material is a powdery positive electrode active material obtained by calcining a mixture of the powder for positive electrode active material and a sodium compound. The positive electrode for sodium rechargeable batteries comprises the positive electrode active material.

Powder for positive electrode active material, positive active electrode active material, and sodium secondary battery

A high-quality GaAs-type crystal thin film using an inexpensive Si wafer with good thermal release characteristics is achieved. Provided is a semiconductor wafer comprising an Si wafer; an inhibiting layer that is formed on the wafer and that inhibits crystal growth, the inhibiting layer including a covering region that covers a portion of the wafer and an open region that does not cover a portion of the wafer within the covering region; a Ge layer that is crystal-grown in the open region; and a functional layer that is crystal-grown on the Ge layer. The Ge layer may be formed by annealing with a temperature and duration that enables movement of crystal defects, and the annealing is repeated a plurality of times.

Semiconductor wafer, semiconductor wafer manufacturing method, and electronic device

Non-aqueous electrolyte and lithium secondary battery using the same

A polymer electrolyte comprising a sulfonated polyethersulfone having an ion-exchange group equivalent weight of 870 to 5000 g/mol, which is obtainable by sulfonating a polyethersulfone having the structural unit represented by the following structural formula, ##STR1## The polymer electrolyte is cheap, easily mold-processable by virtue of soluble property in organic solvent and thermoplastic property, easily film-processable, highly water-resistant, and suitable for a fuel cell.

Polymer electrolyte and process for producing the same

Provided is a polymer electrolyte which is cheap and easily synthesized, and has a high water resistance and high output performance. The polymer electrolyte comprising a sulfonated polymer having an ion-exchange group equivalent weight of 500 to 2500 g/mol, which is obtainable by sulfonating a structural unit represented by the structural formula (II) of a copolymer having 95 to 40 mol % of a structural unit represented by the following structural formula (I) and 5 to 60 mol % of a structural unit represented by the following structural formula (II), ##STR1##

Polymer electrolyte for fuel cell

A non-aqueous electrolyte lithium secondary battery, comprising a cathode containing, as active material, a material that can be doped/undoped with lithium ions, an anode containing, as active material, a carbonaceous material that can be doped/undoped with lithium ions, a separator interposed between the cathode and anode and an electrolyte prepared by dissolving lithium salt in an organic solvent, wherein the anode contains a polymer having carbonate groups represented by the structural formula �I!: ##STR1## said polymer having a number average molecular weight of not less than 300 and not more than 200,000. The lithium secondary battery has cycle life and high-rate capacity which are improved without reducing low-temperature capacity.

Non-aqueous electrolyte lithium secondary battery

The present invention provides a non-aqueous electrolyte that includes a non-aqueous solvent and a lithium salt. The non-aqueous electrolyte contains a halogen-substituted ether compound represented by the general formula (I):

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Tsukuba, Japan

Taketsugu Yamamoto