Patent ID: 8900755

Claim:
A rechargeable lithium battery or supercapacitor comprising a positive electrode, a negative electrode, a porous separator disposed between the two electrodes, and a lithium-containing electrolyte in physical contact with the two electrodes, wherein the positive electrode comprises a disordered carbon material as a cathode active material having a functional group that reversibly reacts with a lithium atom or ion during charge and discharge cycles of said battery or supercapacitor and wherein said disordered carbon material is selected from a soft carbon, hard carbon, polymeric carbon or carbonized resin, meso-phase carbon, coke, carbonized pitch, carbon black, activated carbon, or partially graphitized carbon and said functional group is selected from —COOH, ═O, —OH, —NH 2 , an oxygen-containing group attached to a carbon atom, —OR, or —COOR, where R is a hydrocarbon radical.