TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Materials:M = a metal cation, an ammonium cation or a proton;Rf = 1-8C straight or branched acyclic perfluoroalkyl optionally interrupted by a catenary nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur (preferably CF3-, C2F5-, C4F9-, C8F17-, (CF3)2NC2F4-, CF3OC2F4-, or;R'f = -CF2CF2-, -(CF2)4-, -CF2CF(CF3)-, or;Rh = straight or branched, 2-8C aliphatic interrupted by N, O or S, C4H9-, C6H13-, C8H17- or cyclohexylene, CH3OCH2CH2-, CH3OCH2CH2OCH2CH2- or (CH3)2NCH2CH2-, phenyl optionally substituted by 1-4C alkyl, halo, nitro, trifluoromethyl or cyano, and is polymerizable (preferably an olefinic unsaturated group (especially vinyl, allyl, vinylbenzyl, acryloyl or methacryloyl), epoxide, azetidine or aziridine), or a reactive group (alcohol, amine, isocyanate or di- or trialkoxysilyl);R'h = alkylene, cycloalkylalkylene, arylene or aralkylene, -CH2CH2-, -CH2CH2CH2-, -(CH2)4-Preferred Electrolyte: The electrolyte contains a polymeric salt of formula (VI), a salt of formula (VII); or a methide salt of formula (V) and a matrix material:x = repeating unit;Q = -C6H4SO2- or -C(O)-;R = hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl;X = SO2 or C(O);Rf = fluorine, a straight or branched 1-12C acyclic perfluoroalkyl, 3-12C cyclic perfluoroalkyl optionally interrupted by a catenary heteroatom;Rh'' = 1-18C straight or branched aliphatic, 3-12C cycloaliphatic optionally interrupted by a catenary heteroatom, optionally substituted aromatic or 1-4C alkyl aromatic, a reactive group, or when taken together both Rh'' groups form a 2-3C alkylene group or a phenylene group joined at the 1,2- or 1,3- positions to X.Preferred Conditions: The electrolyte further comprises a conventional conductive salt; and the total salt concentration in the matrix material is 0.1-2M. SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS - The imide salt is an anion of formula (IX) or (X):    EXAMPLE - Liquid electrolytes were prepared by dissolving electrolyte salts in anhydrous solvents and then evaluated for conductivity (mS/cm). Solvents used were all reagent grade and were dried to less than 30 ppm water using molecular sieves. For example, a 0.7 M solution of C6H5SO2NLiSO2CF3 in a 50/50 mixture of propylene carbonate and dimethoxyethane was found to have a conductivity of 5.3 mS/cm. Salts of the invention showed good conductivities in liquid electrolytes, though not as high as their perfluorinated analogues. However, their conductivities and solubilities were superior to nonfluorinated ditolyl bis-sulfonylimide.