Abstract: An electrode material comprising a powdery mixture of a metal material (particularly, an intermetallic compound) and a capacitive carbon material each capable of doping and dedoping lithium, and an optionally added fine electroconductive additive, and containing the metal material and the capacitive carbon material in amounts of 5-60 wt. % and 40-95 wt. %, respectively, is used as an active substance for an electrode, particularly a negative electrode, of a non-aqueous solvent secondary cell. As a result, there is provided a non-aqueous solvent secondary cell which has large charge-discharge capacities, a small irreversible capacity determined as a difference between the doping capacity and the de-doping capacity, and also excellent cycle characteristics.

Abstract: An adsorbent for an oral administration, comprising a porous spherical carbonaceous substance wherein a diameter is 0.01 to 1 mm, a specific surface area determined by a BET method is 700 m2/g or more, a volume of pores having a pore diameter of 20 to 15000 nm is from not less than 0.04 mL/g to less than 0.10 mL/g, a total amount of acidic groups is 0.30 to 1.20 meq/g, and a total amount of basic groups is 0.20 to 1.00 meq/g, is disclosed.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities for doping and dedoping of a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material obtained by carbonizing an aromatic condensation polymer formed by condensation of an aromatic compound having a phenolic hydroxy group and an aldehyde. The carbonaceous material is characterized by an atomic ratio H/C between hydrogen atoms and carbon atoms of below 0.1, a carbon dioxide adsorption capacity of at least 10 ml/g, and an X-ray scattering intensity ratio IW/ID of at least 0.25, wherein IW and ID represent scattering intensities as measured in a wet state and a dry state, respectively, at a parameter s=2·sin &thgr;/&lgr; of 0.5 nm−1, wherein &thgr; denotes a scattering angle and &lgr; denotes a wavelength of X-rays in X-ray small-angle scattering measurement.

Abstract: An adsorbent for an oral administration, comprising a porous spherical carbonaceous substance wherein a diameter is 0.01 to 1 mm, a specific surface area determined by a BET method is 700 m2/g or more, a volume of pores having a pore diameter of 20 to 15000 nm is from not less than 0.04 mL/g to less than 0.10 mL/g, a total amount of acidic groups is 0.30 to 1.20 meq/g, and a total amount of basic groups is 0.20 to 0.70 meq/g, is disclosed.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities for doping and dedoping of a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material obtained by carbonizing an aromatic condensation polymer formed by condensation of an aromatic compound having a phenolic hydroxy group and an aldehyde. The carbonaceous material is characterized by an atomic ratio H/C between hydrogen atoms and carbon atoms of below 0.1, a carbon dioxide adsorption capacity of at least 10 ml/g, and an X-ray scattering intensity ratio IW/ID of at least 0.25, wherein IW and ID represent scattering intensities as measured in a wet state and a dry state, respectively, at a parameter s=2·sin &thgr;/&lgr; of 0.5 nm−1, wherein &thgr; denotes a scattering angle and &lgr; denotes a wavelength of X-rays in X-ray small-angle scattering measurement.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities for doping and dedoping of a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous solvent secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material having a true density as measured by a butanol substitution method of at most 1.46 g/cm3, a true density as measured by a helium substitution method of at least 1.7 g/cm3, a hydrogen-to-carbon atomic ratio H/C of at most 0.15 as measured according to elementary analysis, a BET specific surface area of at most 50 m2/g as measured by nitrogen adsorption BET method, and a carbon dioxide adsorption capacity of at least 10 ml/g. The carbonaceous material is advantageously produced by carbonizing an organic material originated from bamboo genera of family Gramineae, particularly genus Pleioblastus or Bambusa, at 1000-1400° C. under a reduced pressure or under a flowing inert gas stream to provide an appropriate porous structure.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities for doping and dedoping of a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material having a pore volume of at least 0.55 ml/g of pores having a pore diameter of at most 5 &mgr;m as measured by mercury injection method, a potassium content of at most 0.5 wt. % as measured by fluorescent X-ray analysis, and a specific surface area of at most 100 m2/g as measured by nitrogen adsorption BET method. The carbonaceous material is advantageous produced by carbonizing a carbon precursor of plant origin having a potassium content of at most 0.5 wt. % as measured by fluorescent X-ray analysis, in contact with a stream of an inert gas optionally containing a halogen gas at a temperature of 700-1500° C.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode material for electric double layer capacitors having a large capacitor per volume, a low resistivity and a large bulk density, is provided as a carbonaceous material having a specific surface area of 800-2000 m2/g as measured by the nitrogen adsorption BET method, and an average layer-plane spacing of at most 0.36 nm as measured by the X-ray diffraction method. The carbonaceous material is preferably produced by carbonizing and activating a carbon precursor of pitch origin in an oxidizing atmosphere.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities for doping and dedoping of a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material having a specific microtexture. The carbonaceous material is characterized by an average (002)-plane spacing of at least 0.365 nm according to X-ray diffraction method, and also a ratio .rho..sub.H /.rho..sub.B of at least 1.15 wherein .rho..sub.H denotes a density measured by using helium gas as a substitution medium and .rho..sub.B denotes a density measured by using butanol as a substitution medium.

Abstract: A graphitic electrode material suitable for use in a non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery is provided. The graphitic material is characterized by an average (002)-plane spacing d.sub.002 of 0.336-0.345 nm, a crystallite size along c-axis L.sub.c(002) of 15-60 nm, and a lattice strain .epsilon. of at most 2.0.times.10.sup.-2 nm.sup.-1 as measured by X-ray diffraction method. The graphitic material may suitably be formed through a process including the steps of: thermally polymerizing a condensed polycyclic aromatic compound in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst to form a polymerizate, and heat-treating the polymerizate at 2100.degree.-2600.degree. C. under a reduced pressure or in an inert gas atmosphere. The graphitic electrode material exhibits large doping and dedoping capacities which provide only a small difference therebetween (i.e., irreversible capacity) and cause only a small decrease at the time of quick charging and discharging.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities for doping and dedoping of a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material having a specific microtexture. The carbonaceous material is characterized by it's ability to provide an electrochemically lithium-doped product showing a main resonance peak which is shifted by 80-200 ppm to a lower magnetic field side from a resonance line of LiCl as a reference substance when subjected to .sup.7 Li-NMR spectroscopy analysis.

Abstract: A carbonaceous electrode having improved capacities of doping and dedoping a cell active substance, such as lithium, and suitable for a non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery, is constituted by a carbonaceous material having a specific microtexture. The carbonaceous material is characterized by having an average (002)-plane spacing of at least 0.365 nm according to an X-ray diffraction test, and by providing a residual carbonaceous substance showing an average (002) plane-spacing of at most 0.350 nm according to an X-ray diffraction test when the carbonaceous material is treated with an H.sub.2 O--N.sub.2 equi-molar gaseous mixture at 900.degree. C. up to a weight reduction of 60%.

Abstract: A non-aqueous solvent-type secondary battery having a large charge-discharge capacity and exhibiting a high utilization rate of an active substance, such as lithium, and an excellent charge-discharge cycle characteristic, can be constituted by using a carbonaceous electrode material having a specific microtexture. The carbonaceous electrode material is characterized by having an average (002)-plane spacing d.sub.002 of 0.336-0.375 nm and a crystallite size in c-axis direction Lc.sub.(002) of at most 50 nm, respectively, as measured by X-ray diffraction method, and an optically anisotropic texture showing a fine mosaic texture when observed through a polarizing microscope. The carbonaceous material may suitably be produced through a process including the steps of: crosslinking a tar or pitch of a petroleum or coal origin, and carbonizing the crosslinked tar or pitch at a temperature of at least 800.degree. C. under a reduced pressure or in an inert gas atmosphere.

Abstract: A method making high-orientation sheet-like graphite by inserting monomer of high molecular compound between layers of laminar compound such as montmorillonite, polymerizing the monomer, preliminarily carbonizing the thus formed polymer, removing the laminar compound by acid treatment, and effecting graphitization at a high temperature.