Autogenic pressure reactions for battery materials manufacture

A lithium or lithium-ion electrochemical cell comprising a cathode, an anode, and a non-aqueous lithium-containing electrolyte therebetween, wherein one or more of the anode and the cathode comprises at least one particulate carbon-containing material selected from the group consisting of:

• (a) a particulate metal oxide/carbon composite material comprising metal oxide core particles coated with carbon, the metal oxide comprising one or more ions selected from the group consisting of Ti, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Mo, W, In, and Sn, optionally in combination with Li ions,
• (b) a particulate metal/carbon composite material comprising metal core particles coated with carbon, the core comprising one or more metal that can alloy with Li selected from the group consisting of Mg, Al, Ga, In, Sn, and Sb, and
• (c) a particulate metal phosphate/carbon composite material— comprising metal phosphate core particles coated with carbon, wherein the metal phosphate comprises one or more ions selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Mn, Ni, and Co, optionally in combination with Li ions;
• and wherein the particulate carbon-containing material is prepared by heating one or more precursor materials in a sealed autogenic pressure reactor at a temperature and for a period of time sufficient to dissociate the one or more precursor material into at least one gaseous component and thereby generate a pressure sufficient for components of the dissociated precursor material to combine and form the particulate carbon-containing material;
• wherein the combined amount and combined chemical composition of each precursor material in the reactor is sufficient to form the particulate carbon-containing material.