Positive active material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

Abstract: A positive active material (5) for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, the said material being composed of a layer-like structure composite oxide of the formula LixMyLz0₂, wherein M is a transition metal element and L is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of non-metal, metalloid and semi-metal elements selected from Groups IIIB, IVB and VB of the periodic table, alkaline earth metal elements and metal elements selected from Zn, Cu and Ti.

Description: The present invention relates to a positive active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery. It relates more particularly to a secondary battery comprising a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein lithium, or a material capable of absorbing and releasing lithium, is used as a negative active material and there is also used a lithium ion conducting non-aqueous electrolyte, and especially to an improvement in a positive electrode. A non-aqueous electrolyte battery using lithium as a negative active material has already been extensively used as a power source for memory backup, cameras etc, in the form of a primary battery since it has advantages such as a high voltage a high energy density, a small self-discharge and an excellent long-term reliability. With the development of portable electronic equipment, communication equipment and other equipment in recent years, however, a wide variety of equipment was produced in which the battery as a power source was required to have a large current output, which led to a strong desire for a rechargeable secondary battery having a high energy density from the viewpoint of profitability and a reduction in size and weight. For this reason research and development have been energetically conducted on the conversion of the above-described battery comprising a non-aqueous electrolyte and having a high energy density into a secondary battery, and some secondary batteries have been put into practical use. However, they are still unsatisfactory in respect of the energy density, charge-discharge cycle life, reliability etc. A wide variety of materials, e.g. metal chalcogenides such as TiS 2 , MoS 2 , and NbSe 3 and metal oxides such as MnO 2 , MoO 2 , V 2 O 5 , Li x CoO 2 , Li x N10 2 and Li x Mn 2 O 4 have been proposed as a positive active material for the secondary battery of the type as described above. In general, in batteries wherein metallic lithium is used as a negative active material, when a metal chalcogenide is used as a positive active material, the operating voltage is generally 3V or less, or typically 2V or less. On the other hand, a metal oxide is used as a positive active material, many of the batteries exhibit a high voltage of 3V or more and a high energy, so that the number of batteries to be connected in series can be reduced in many applications of the above-described equipment where a power source voltage of 5V or more is necessary, which renders these batteries advantageous particularly to a reduction in size and weight. On the other hand, when metallic lithium is used as a negative active material of this type of battery, dendrite or a passivate compound forms on the negative electrode, and deterioration by charging and discharging is great, and the cycle life is short. To solve this problem, an alloy of lithium and another metal, an intercalation compound or an insertion compound having an Li ion in the crystal and a conductive polymer doped with an Li ion are proposed to be used as the negative electrode. But generally when a compound capable of absorbing and releasing an Li ion other than metallic lithium is used as a negative active substance, these compounds have an electrode potential nobler than the electrode potential of the metallic lithium. Thus, the operating voltage of the battery has a defect that it is considerably lower than when metallic lithium is used as the negative active material. For example, when an alloy of Li and Al, Zn, Pb, Sn etc. is used, the operating voltage decreases by 0.2, to 0.8V. A carbonlithium intercalation compound decreases in the operating voltage by 0 to 1V. With an Li ion insertion compound of MoO 2 or WO 2 , the operating voltage is lowered by 0.5 to 1.5 V. Thus, a substance capable of absorbing and releasing an Li ion is used as a negative active material, and a secondary battery having a high voltage and a high energy density and possessing excellent cycle characteristics may be obtained by using a positive active material with the higher electrode potential versus Li. Lithium transition metal oxides Li x M y O 2 having a α-NaCrO 2 type layer-structure such as Li x CoO 2 or Li x NiO 2 among the positive active materials make an electrode reaction with a lithium negative electrode as shown in formula (2) Li x1 M y O 2 =Li x1-x2 M y O 2 + x2 Li + + x2 e - in which x1 is the amount x of Li before charging, x1-x2 is the amount of Li after charging, and 0 < x1 ≦ 1 and 0 < x1-x2 ≦ 1. The operating voltage is more than 4V. If the Li ion can de-intercalate and intercalate within the range of x = 0 to 1, a high theoretical energy density of more than 1100 Whr/kg is expected. Furthermore, there is an advantage that deterioration by charging and discharging is relatively small. Thus, the above substance is promising. A lithium transition metal oxide Li x M y O 2 having this layered structure as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No 55-136131 is synthesized by mixing a lithium compound (Li 2 CO 3 , LiNO 3 , or LiOH) with a transition metal M or a compound thereof (carbonates or nitrates) at a specified ratio and baking the mixture in air or in an oxygen atmosphere at a temperature of 700° to 900°C. As above, the charging and discharging reaction of a positive electrode in a battery using Li x M y O 2 as a positive active material and lithium or a substance capable of absorbing and releasing lithium as a negative active material proceeds as shown in the above formula (2), That is, an Li ion formed is de-intercalated into the electrolyte from the crystalline structure of the positive active substance Li x1 M y O 2 during charging, and is deposited into the negative electrode. Conversely, during discharging, an Li ion formed from the negative electrode passes through the electrolyte and is intercalated in the crystalline structure of the positive active material of the Li x1-x2 M y O 2 . Ideally, during this charging and discharging, the region in which an Li ion can reversely de-intercalate and intercalate, namely the charging-discharging capacity, is preferably as large as possible and 0 ≦ x2 ≦ 1. But in a battery using the conventional Li x M y O 2 , the effective charging-discharging capacities are small at a practical charging voltage and current density, and less than 50% of the theoretical. As the current is large, it becomes small. Furthermore, by polarization during discharging, the operating voltage greatly decreases. Furthermore, when a cycle of charging and discharging is repeated at a specific voltage, the repetition of charging and discharging causes a decrease in charging and discharging capacity, and as the charging and discharging currents are large, the decrease of charging and discharging capacity is considerable. This is ascribed to the fact that by charging, as an Li ion is extracted from Li x M y O 2 on the positive electrode (de-intercalation), the electrode potential of Li x M y O 2 is considerably increased, and the polarisation is large because the Li ion conductivity and electron conductivity are low. Thus, the charging voltage greatly increases. At a practically stable voltage not higher than the decomposition voltage of the electrolyte mentioned below which may be used in these batteries (about 4 to 4.5 V vs, metallic Li) and the oxidation potential of a battery case or a collector, the charging capacity very much decreases. Especially, in the region in which the amount x of Li in the Li x M y O 2 is not more than about 0 6, the increase of potential is extremely large so that within a practical range of a charging voltage and current density, this region cannot substantially be utilised. According to the present invention, there is provided a positive active material as claimed in claim 1. A non aqueous electrolyte secondary battery using Li x CO (1-y) M y O 2 with 0.85 ≤ x ≤ 1.3 and 0.05 ≤ y ≤ 0.35 with M at least one of W, Mn, Ta, Ti and Nb is already known from EP-A-0 421 421. This document, however, is a publication under Art. 54(3) EPC. In one form, the invention comprises a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a negative electrode having lithium or a material capable of absorbing and releasing lithium as an active material and a lithium ion conductive non-aqueous electrolyte and a positive electrode of an active material according to the first aspect of the present invention The invention also comprises a process as claimed in claim 5. The invention uses a novel layer-like structure composite oxide (to be called a layer-like composite oxide). The layer-like composite oxide comprising lithium, the transition metal and L element used as a positive active material of the battery of this invention can be produced in the following manner. The simple substances or compounds such as oxides, hydroxides, salts like carbonates or nitrates, or organic compounds of lithium Li, the transition metal element M and the L element are mixed at specified ratios. The mixture is heated at a temperature of at least 600°C, preferably 700° to 900°C, in air or an atmosphere having oxygen. When the oxide or compound containing oxygen is used as the source of Li, M or L element, the mixture may be heated in an inert atmosphere. An adequate heating time is usually 4 to 50 hours. To promote the synthesizing reaction and elevate the uniformity of the product, processes of heating, cooling and pulverizing may effectively be repeated several times. A stoichiometric value of x=1 is standard for the amount x of Li in formuia (1) in the heating reaction process. But it may have unstoichiometry about + 15%. By electrochemical intercalation and de-intercalation, values of 0 < x ≦ 1.15 are also possible. If the amount z of the L element and the amount y of the transition metal M are limited to 0 < z and 0.85 ≦ y+z ≦ 1.3, a decrease in polarization (internal resistance) an increase in the charging and discharging capacity and/or a decrease in the cycle deterioration are obtained. On the contrary, the amount of charging and discharging capacity per cycle decreases when the amount z of the L element is too great. The values of z have a preferred range greatly depending upon the type of the L element. In the case of B and Si, 0 < z ≦ 0.5 is preferred and in the case Mg 0.05 < z ≦ 0.5 is preferred because the charging and discharging capacity is the greatest within these ranges. On the other hand the electrolytes may be Li ion conducting non-aqueous electrolytes such as an Li ion conducting organic electrolyte solution in which are dissolved Li ion dissociating salts such as LiCℓO 4 , LiPF 6 , LiBF 4 or LiCFS 3 O 3 as a supporting electrolyte, in at least one solvent such as gamma-butyrolactone, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, butylene carbonate, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, tetrahydrofuran, dioxolane and dimethylformamide, polymeric solid electrolytes having the Li salts dissolved in polymers such as polyethylene oxide or polyphosphazenc crosslinked product and inorganic solid electrolytes such as Li 3 N and Lil. When the layer-like composite oxide Li x M y L z O 2 of this invention is used as a positive active material, the range within which the Li ion can intercalate and de-intercalate at a practical charging voltage below the oxidation potential of the battery case and the collector or the decomposition voltage of the electrolyte and at practical charging and discharging current density is broadened by comparison with the use of the conventional Li x M y O 2 ; that is, the effective charging and discharging capacity markedly increases. Furthermore, since the polarization (internal resistance) of the battery using it decreases, the increase in the voltage at the time of charging and the decrease of the operating voltage at the time of discharging are very much improved. Thus, charging and discharging at a larger current become possible. Furthermore, cycle deterioration such as the decrease of the charging and discharging capacity or the increase in the internal resistance of the battery is very much reduced, and the charging and discharging cycle characteristics are very much improved. The reason why the charging and discharging characteristics are improved is not entirely clear, but the following estimation may be made. The basic crystalline structure of the novel layer-like composite oxide Li x M y L z O 2 , as shown in the following Examples, have a structure similar to α-NaCrO 2 resulting from replacing a part of the transition metal element M of an α-NaCrO 2 type layer-like compound Li x M y O 2 by an L element. The L element may also exist in the interstices between the lattices of the crystal or Li sites (substituted for Li). At any rate, the presence of the L element changes the crystal structure and the electron state. Thus, the Li ion conductivity is enhanced and the electrode potential is somewhat decreased. As a result, the Li ion can easily de-intercalate and intercalate. Since the increase of the battery voltage at the time of charging and the decrease in the operating voltage at the time of discharging are greatly inhibited, the effective capacities of charging and discharging markedly increase. Furthermore, with the repetition of charging and discharging, hardly any deterioration appears to occur in the crystalline destruction by intercalation and de-intercalation of the Li ion. The invention is illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is an explanatory view of one example of the structure of a battery which incorporates a positive active material according to the present invention; Figure 2 contains waveforms showing a comparison of the powdery X-ray diffraction patterns of various positive active materials; Figure 3 is a graph showing a comparison of the charging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 4 is a graph showing a comparison of the discharging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 5 contains graphs showing a comparison of the cycle characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery; Figure 6 is a graph showing a comparison of the charging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 7 is a graph showing a comparison of the discharging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 8 is a graph showing a comparison of the charging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 9 is a graph showing a comparison of the discharging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 10 is a graph showing a comparison of the cycle characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery; Figure 11 contains waveforms showing the powder X-ray diffraction patterns of various positive active materials; Figure 12 is a graph showing a comparison of the charging characteristic of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; Figure 13 is a graph showing a comparison of the discharging characteristics of batteries incorporating the present invention and a prior art battery in a second cycle; The present invention will be illustrated in detail by the following Examples. Figure 1 is a sectional view of a coin-type battery showing one example of the invention. In Figure 1, 1 represents a negative electrode can or housing concurrently acting as a negative electrode terminal, the negative electrode can 1 being produced by drawing a stainless steel plate having one outside surface thereof plated with Ni. 2 represents a negative current collector made of stainless steel net which is spotwelded to the negative electrode can 1. A negative electrode 3 is prepared by punching an aluminium plate of a specified thickness into a disc having a diameter of 15 mm, cementing it to the negative current collector 2, and press-bonding a lithium foil of a specified thickness puncned to a diameter of 14 mm onto the aluminium disc, 7 represents a positive electrode can made of stainless steel plated with Ni on one outside surface, and it also acts as a positive electrode terminal, 5 is a positive electrode incorporating the present invention, and it is integrally moulded with a positive current collector 6 made of a net of stainless steel, 4 is a separator made of a polypropylene porous film, and is impregnated with an electrolyte solution, 8 is a gasket composed of polypropylene, and exists between the negative electrode can 1 and the positive electrode can 7 to maintain electrical insulation between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. At the same time, an opening edge of the positive electrode 7 can is bent inwardly and caulked to seal up the battery content. The electrolyte employed was a mixed solvent composed of propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate and 1,2-dimethoxyethane in a volume ratio of 1:1:2 in which 1 mole/ℓ of lithium perchlorate LiCℓO 4 was dissolved. The size of the battery was 20 mm in outside diameter and 1.6 mm in thickness. Example 1 In this Example, boron B as a metalloid element of Group IIIB of the periodic table was used as the L element constituting a positive active material. Except for the positive electrode, batteries were produced basically as described above. A positive electrode 5 was prepared in the following manner. Lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O, cobalt carbonate CoCO 3 and boron oxide B 2 O 3 were fully mixed in a mortar in a specified mole ratio of Li:Co:B. The mixture was heated in air at a temperature of 850°C for 12 hours, and after cooling, the mixture was ground to a particle size of not more than 53µm. This heating and pulverization were repeated twice to prepare the positive active material. In this Example, two mole ratios were used, namely 1:0.95:0.05 (d1) (LiCo 0.95 B 0.05 O 2 ) and 1:0.8:0.2 (LiCo 0.8 B 0.2 O 2 (d2). For comparison, a boron-free conventional layer-like oxide LiCoO 2 was prepared in the following manner. Lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O and cobalt carbonate CoCO 3 were mixed at a Li:Co mole ratio of 1:1. This mixture was heated in air at a temperature of 850°C for 12 hours, and after cooling, pulverized to a particle size not greater than 53µm. This heating and pulverization were repeated twice to obtain a comparative substance (r2). These products were used as a positive active material and mixed with graphite as a conductive agent and a fluoro-resin and so on as a binder at a weight ratio of 60:35:5 to form a positive mix. Next, this positive mix was press-moulded at a pressure of 2000 Kg/cm 2 (2 ton/cm 2 ) into a pellet having a diameter of 15 mm and a thickness of 0.5 mm together with a positive current collector 6 of a net composed of stainless steel and then the pellet was dried under reduced pressure at 100°C for 10 hours to form a positive active material. The battery so prepared was allowed to be aged at room temperature for 1 week, and subjected to the following charging and discharging test. By this ageing, the lithium-aluminium laminated electrode as a negative electrode contacted the non-aqueous electrolyte whereby the alloying proceeded very well. The lithium foil substantially completely became an Li-Aℓ alloy. Thus, the voltage of the battery was about 0.4V lower than in the case of using metallic lithium alone as a negative electrode and became stabilized. The batteries so produced are referred to as batteries D1, D2 and R2 corresponding to the positive active materials d1, d2 and r2 used. Figure 2 shows X-ray diffraction patterns of the positive active materials d1 and d2 and the comparative material r2 using Cuka rays. As is apparent from Figure 2, the diffraction pattern of the comparative material r2 agrees with that of the LiCoO 2 having α-NaCrO 2 type layer-like structure of ASTM card No. 16-427. On the other hand, the diffraction patterns of the active materials d1 and d2 of this invention are very similar to the diffraction pattern of the comparative material LiCoO 2 . There is no clear difference in the positions of the individual peaks and no unknown new peaks are seen. But differences are seen in the relative strengths of the diffraction peaks. That is, the diffraction intensities from the (003) and (006) faces perpendicular to the c-axis of the hexagonal system such as 2≒18.9° and 38.3° are larger than the diffraction strengths from other faces, and this tendency becomes stronger as the content of boron B becomes larger. The active materials d1 and d2 of this invention have a structure such that a part of the Co atoms in the oxide LiCoO 2 having an α-NaCrO 2 -type layer-like structure are replaced by B atoms, and it is estimated that most of boron atoms B occupy the sites substituted for Co atoms and few are entered at the space between the crystal lattices and Li sites. That is the active materials dl and d2 of this invention have a layer-like structure like an α-NaCrO 2 -type, and are judged to be lithium-boron transition metal composite oxides having the compositions LiCo 0.95 B 0.05 O 2 and LiCo 0.8 B 0.2 O 2 . These batteries D1, D2 and R2 were subjected to a charging and discharging cycle at a fixed current of 1 mA under a charging termination voltage of 4.0V and a discharging termination voltage of 2.0V. The charging characteristics in the second cycle are shown in Figure 3, and the discharging characteristics in the second cycle are shown in Figure 4. The cycle characteristics are shown in Figure 5. The charging and discharging cycle started with the charging. As can be seen from Figures 3 to 5, the batteries D1 and D2 as compared with the comparative battery R2 have much larger charging and discharging capacities, and the reversible region of charging and discharging is very much enhanced. The decrease of discharging capacities (cycle deterioration) by the repetition of charging and discharging is extremely small. Over the entire charging and discharging region, the charging voltage was lower by 0.2 to 0.3V and the operating voltage of discharging increased to a very high level. Thus, polarization (internal resistance) of the batteries was very much improved, and charging-discharging at a large current becomes easy. This is probably because in the layer-like composite oxide Li x Co y B z O 2 which constitutes the positive active materials of the batteries D1 and D2 of this invention, a part of Co atoms is LiCoO2 are replaced by B atoms and thereby changes occur in crystal structure and electron state so that the conductivity of an Li ion is enhanced and the intercalation and de-intercalation of the Li ion becomes easy. The charging and discharging capacity decreases conversely when the amount z of boron is too large, and becomes a maximum at 0 < Z ≦ 0.5. This range is therefore especially preferred. Example 2 In this example, nickel Ni was used as the transition metal element M constituting a positive active material and boron B was used as a metalloid element of Group IIIB of the periodic table which is the L element. Except for the positive active material, batteries were prepared in the same manner as above. The positive active materials of this Example were prepared in the following manner. Lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O, nickel oxide NiO and boron oxide B 2 O 3 were weighed in a specified mole ratio of Li:Ni:B, and fully mixed in a mortar. The mixture was heated in air at a temperature of 850°C for 12 hours, and after cooling, pulverized to a particle size of smaller than 53µm. This heating and pulverization were repeated twice to produce the positive active materials. In this Example, the Li:Ni:B mole ratio was varied in 1:0.95:0.05 (e1)(LiNi 0.95 B 0.05 O 2 ) and 1:0.8:0.2 (e2) (LiNi 0.8 B 0.2 O 2 ). For comparison, a boron-free conventional layer-like oxide LiNiO 2 was prepared in the following manner. Lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O and nickel oxide NiO were mixed in a mole ratio of Li:Ni=1:1. The mixture was heated in air at a temperature of 850°C for 12 hours, and after cooling, pulverized to a particle size of not more than 53µm. This heating and pulverization were repeated twice to form a comparative substance (r3) Except that these products were used as the positive active materials, batteries were produced in the same way as in Example 1. The batteries so prepared were abbreviated as E1, E2 and R3 corresponding to the positive active materials e1, e2 and r3. These batteries were subjected to a charging and discharging cycle test at a fixed current of 1 mA as in Example 1. The charging characteristics in the second cycle are shown in Figure 6, and the discharging characteristics in the second cycle are shown in Figure 7. Figure 2 shows X-ray diffraction patterns using Cuka rays of the positive active materials e1 and r3 prepared as above. As is shown in Figure 2, the diffraction pattern of the comparative material r3 agreed with that of LiNiO 2 having an α-NaCrO 2 type layer-like structure of ASTM card No. 9-63. On the other hand, the diffraction pattern of the active material el of the invention is very similar to the diffraction pattern of the comparative material r3. No clear difference is seen in the positions of the diffraction peaks, and no unknown new diffraction peak is seen. But there is a difference in the relative strength of the diffraction peaks. The active material e1 of this invention has a structure wherein a part of Ni atoms in the oxide LiNiO 2 having an α-NaCrO 2 type layer-like structure are replaced by boron atoms B. It is estimated that most of boron atoms B exist in the positions substituted for Ni atoms,and few are placed in the interstices between crystal lattices or the Li sites. That is to say, it is considered that the active materials e1 and e2 of this invention have a layer-like structure similar to an α-NaCrO 2 type, and are assumed to be lithium-boron transition metal composite oxides having the compositions LiNi 0.95 B 0.05 O 2 and LiNi 0.8 B 0.2 O .2 . As is clear from Figures 6 and 7, in this Example, the battery E1 has a much larger charging-discharging capacity than the comparative battery R3, and the reversible range of charging-discharging is very much widened. On the other hand, the battery E2 having a boron content z of 0.2 showed no improvement in a charging-discharging capacity, and is slightly lowered. When the transition metal element M is nickel Ni, the amount z of boron B is preferably 0 < z < 0.2. Example 3 In this Example, a metalloid silicon Si as Group IVB was used as the L element constituting the positive active material. Except for the positive active material, batteries were prepared as above. The positive active materials were prepared in the following manner. Lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O, cobalt carbonate CoCO 3 and silicon dioxide SiO 2 were weighed in a specified mole ratio of Li:Co:Si and mixed fully in a mortar. The mixture was heated in air at a temperature of 850°C for 12 hours, and after cooling, pulverized to a particle size of not more than 53µm. This heating and pulverization were repeated twice to synehesize the positive active materials of this invention. In the Example, two products, namely Li:Co:Si of 1:0.95:0.05(f1) (LiCo 0.95 Si 0.045 O 2 ) and 1:0.8:0.2 (f2) (LiCo 0.8 Si 0.2 O 2 ) were prepared. For comparison, a silicon-free conventional layer-like oxide LiCoO 2 was used as r2 of Example 4. The batteries so prepared were abbreviated as batteries F1, F2 and R2 corresponding to the positive active materials f1, f2 and r2. These batteries F1, F2 and R2 were subjected to a charging-discharging cycle at a fixed current of 1 mA under a charging termination voltage of 4.0V and a discharging termination voltage of 2.0V. The charging characteristics in the second cycle are shown in Figure 8, and the discharging characteristics in the second cycle are shown in Figure 9. The cycle characteristics are shown in Figure 10. The charging-discharging cycle was started with charging. As is clear from Figures 8 to 10, the batteries F1 and F2 have much larger charging-discharging capacity than the comparative battery R2, and the reversible region of charging-discharging is widened. The decrease in a discharging capacity (cycle deterioration) by tne repetition of charging and discharging is extremely small. Furthermore, at the entire charging-discharging region,the charging voltage is as low as 0.2 to 0.3V. Conversely, the operating voltage of discharging is extremely high, and the polarization (internal resistance) of the battery is greatly improved. Charging and discharging at a large current is very easy. This is because in the layer-like composite oxide Li x Co y Si z O 2 , the positive active materials of the batteries of this invention, the inclusion of silicon Si in the crystal structure changed the crystal structure and electron state and enhanced the conductivity of the Li ion. Thus, intercalation and de-intercalation of the Li ion are assumed to become easy. If the amount z of silicon is too great, the charging-discharging capacity decreases. Since it becomes a maximum at 0 < z ≦ 0.5, this range is especially preferred. Example 4 In this Example, Mg as an alkaline earth metal was used as the L element constituting the positive active materials. Except for the positive active element, the batteries were produced in the same way as above. The positive active materials were produced in the following manner. Lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O, cobalt carbonate CoCO 3 and magnesium oxide MgO were weighed in a specified mole ratio of Li:Co:Mg. The mixture was fully mixed in a mortar, heated in air at a temperature of 850°C for 12 hours, and after cooling, pulverized to a particle size of not more than 53µm. This heating and pulverization were repeated twice to synthesize the positive active materials. In this Example, two mole ratios of Li:Co:Mg were prepared, namely (g1) 1:0.95:0.05(LiCo 0.95 Mg 0.05 O 2 ) and (g2) 1:0.8:0.2 (LiCo 0.8 Mg 0.2 O 2 ). For comparison, r2 of Example 4 was used as a magnesium-free conventional layer-like oxide LiCoO 2 . The prepared batteries were abbreviated as G1, G2 and R2 corresponding to the positive active materials g1, g2 and r2. Figure 11 shows X-ray diffraction patterns using Cuka rays of the positive active materials g1 and g2 and the conventional comparative material r2. As is apparent from Figure 25, the diffraction pattern of the comparative material r2 agrees with that of the LiCoO 2 having an α-NaCrO 2 -type layer-like structure corresponding to ASTM card No. 16-427. On the other hand, the diffraction patterns of the active materials g1 and g2 of the invention are very similar to the diffraction pattern of the comparative active material LiCoO 2 . No new unknown diffraction peak is seen. But the diffraction peak positions are shifted somewhat to a lower angle side. The active material g2 having a larger magnesium content z is shifted more than the active material g1 having a small magnesium content z. A difference is seen in the relative strengths of the diffraction peaks, and this difference becomes larger as the content of magnesium Mg is larger. Hence, the active materials of this invention g1 and g2 have a structure such that a part of Co atoms in the oxide LiCoO 2 having an α-NaCrO 2 type layer-like structure are replaced by magnesium atoms Mg, and the interlayer spaces of the crystal are widened. It is estimated that most of the Mg atoms are placed in the sites substituted for Co atoms, and very few of them are entered in the interstices of crystal lattices or in the Li sites. The active materials g1 and g2 in this Example are judged to be lithium-magnesium transition metal composite oxide having the compositions LiCo 0.95 Mg 0.05 O 2 and LiCo 0.8 Mg o2 0 2 similar to α-NaCrO 2 type layer-like structure. These batteries G1, G2 and R2 were subjected to a charging-discharging test at a fixed current of 1 mA under a charging termination voltage of 4.0V and a discharging termination voltage of 2.0V. The charging characteristics of a second cycle are shown in Figure 12, and the discharging characteristics of a second cycle are shown in Figure 13. The charging-discharging test was started with charging. As is clear from Figures 12 and 13, the batteries G1 and G2 have much larger charging-discharging capacity than the comparative battery R2, and the reversible region of charging and discharging is widened very greatly. Throughout the charging-discharging region, the charging voltage is low. Conversely, the operating voltage of discharging is extremely high. It is to be noted that the polarization (internal resistance) of the batteries were very much improved, and charging and discharging at a large current became easy. Furthermore, these effects depend greatly upon the content z of magnesium, and it is more markedly seen in the battery G2 wherein 0.05 < z than in the battery G1 which has a small z. This is because in the layer-like composite oxide Li x Co y Mg z O 2 the inclusion of magnesium widens the interlayer spaces of the crystal and a change occurs in crystal structure and electron state. It is estimated that as a result, the conductivity of the Li ion is enhanced, and the intercalation and de-intercalation of the Li ion become easy. In the Examples, the negative electrode was shown only as the lithium-aluminium alloy. But the invention is not limited to the Examples. Lithium absorbing and releasing compounds, for example, metallic lithium, alloys of lithium and other metals such as Zn, Sn, Pb, or/and Bi, lithium-insertion compounds such as carbon, MoO 2 , Wo 2 or Fe 2 O 3 , and conductive polymers capable of doping an Li ion such as polyacetylene, polypyrrole or polyacene, can be also used in the same manner. The negative active material does not necessarily contain Li at the time of producing a battery. After assembling the battery, an Li ion in the electrolyte may be charged or an Li ion de-intercalated from the positive active material may be absorbed into the negative electrode. As stated in detail above, the present invention uses a novel layer-like composite oxide Li x M y L z O 2 . De-intercalation and intercalation of an Li ion at the time of charging and discharging capacity is markedly enhanced. Furthermore, the charging voltage is decreased and the operating voltage at the time of discharging is enhanced Thus, excellent effects can be attained such as charging and discharging characteristics are markedly improved at a large current, and by the repetition of charging and discharging, cycle deterioration such as the decrease of charging and discharging capacities can be markedly reduced.

Claims: A positive active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, the said material being composed of a layer-like structure composite oxide of the formula Li x M y L z O 2 , wherein 0<x≤1.15, 0.85≤ y+z≤1.3 and 0<z, wherein M is Ni and L is B, or M is Co and L is Mg, or M is Co and L is Si, or M is Co and L is B. A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a negative electrode having lithium or a material capable of absorbing and releasing lithium as an active material and a lithium ion conductive non-aqueous electrolyte and a positive electrode compound of active material as claimed in claim 1. A battery as claimed in claim 2 characterised in that the negative active material comprises a lithium alloy. A battery as claimed in claim 3 characterised in that the material alloyed with lithium is aluminium. A process for producing a positive active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, which comprises mixing lithium Li with a transition metal element and an element L, as the simple substance or their compounds, and heating the mixture in air or in an atmosphere containing oxygen to produce a layer-like structure composite oxide of the formula Li x M y L z O 2 , wherein 0<x≤1.15, 0.85≤y+z≤1.3 and 0<z, and M is Ni and L is B, or M is Co and L is Mg, or M is Co and L is Si, or M is Co and L is B. A process as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that lithium hydroxide is used as the lithium compound. A process as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that the lithium hydroxide is hydrated lithium hydroxide LiOH.H 2 O. A process as claimed in claims 5, 6, or 7, characterised in that the compound of the transition metal M is a carbonate or oxide of M. A process as claimed in claims 5, 6, 7 or 8, characterised in that the compound of the L element is an oxide or carbonate of L. A process as claimed in any of claims 5-9, characterised in that lithium hydroxide and cobalt carbonate are mixed with an oxide of the L element, and the mixture is heated in air at a temperature of 600° to 900° C. A process as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that lithium hydroxide and nickel oxide are mixed with an oxide of the L element, and the mixture is heated in air at a temperature of 600° to 900°C.

Inventors: ISHIKAWA HIDEKI, SAKAI TSUGIO, TAHARA KENSUKE, ISHIKAWA, HIDEKI, SAKAI, TSUGIO, TAHARA, KENSUKE
Applicants: SEIKO ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS, SEIKO ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS LTD.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: H01M4
IPC codes: H01M4, C01B25, H01M10, C01G51, C01B35, C01B33