Patent Description:
Lithium, which is a negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte battery, has been an object of attention from many researchers and has been widely used in primary batteries, due to its high voltage, high-energy density, and small self-discharging. However, the application of a lithium metal as a negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery causes a dendrite phenomenon or irreversible materials in a negative electrode at the time of charge and discharge, resulting in problems, such as the decline in the charge and discharge efficiency and the decrease in the cycle life.

In order to solve the problems, there is applied a method of inducing an oxidation-reduction reaction while absorbing and desorbing lithium ions in a layered crystal structure, by applying a material, such as carbon, obtained by sintering graphite or an organic material. That is, graphite and carbon-based negative electrode active materials lead to a superior charge and discharge efficiency and an excellent cycle life, compared with a metal-based negative electrode, and thus has been widely commercialized compared with the metal-based negative electrode.

Meanwhile, portable electronic communication devices or gearing tools gradually have smaller sizes, lighter weights, and higher functions, and the need of high capacity for commercialization of electric cars becomes stronger, but the carbon-based material has a limitation in achieving high capacity of non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable batteries due to a low battery capacity resulting from its structural characteristics.

Hence, recently, in spite of several problems involved in metal negative electrodes, studies on metals, such as Si and Sn, are again being actively carried out. Especially, silicon-based negative electrodes are being very actively studied since the theoretical capacity of the silicon-based negative electrodes is <NUM>,<NUM> mAh/g, which is at least <NUM>-fold higher than the theoretical capacity of carbon-based negative electrodes, <NUM> Ah/g.

Silicon, as a negative electrode active material, expands to a volume of <NUM>% or more due to a reaction with lithium at the time of charge, and then contracts at the time of discharge, and this rapid expansion and contraction may cause problems in that particles of the negative electrode active material may crack and electrodes may drop off, ultimately resulting in a fatal problem in that the cycle life rapidly decreases.

In order to solve these problems, there are proposed techniques for performing a process for mechanically milling silicon and carbon, compounding silicon and carbon by chemical deposition, or applying a silicon oxide, which has a relatively lower volume expansion rate than metal silicon, as a negative electrode active material.

In this regard, there was proposed a method of coating a carbon layer on a surface of silicon particles using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) (Patent Document: <CIT>). However, in spite of an advantage of improving conductivity due to the surface carbon layer, the merely suppression of a volume change involved in charge and discharge, which is the main problem of the silicon-based negative electrode, could still not effectively prevent the decrease in the cycle life. Whereas, silicon oxide receives attention as a material which induces a smaller capacity than silicon but a very excellent capacity compared with carbon-based negative electrodes, and has a lower volume expansion rate than metals, and thus excellent cycle life characteristics.

With respect to silicon oxide, represented by general formula SiOx, the ratio between the numbers of silicon atoms and oxygen atoms is generally close to <NUM>:<NUM>, and silicon ultrafine crystals are distributed in the silicon oxide. Silicon crystals with a size of several nanometers or more can be clearly observed by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis.

This silicon oxide (SiOx) is decomposed into Si and SiO<NUM> by disproportionation at a high temperature of <NUM> or higher, to form a structure in which several nm-sized silicon crystals are uniformly distributed. This silicon oxide, when applied as a negative electrode active material for a rechargeable battery, includes the capacity, which is nearly half the capacity in a silicon negative electrode active material but about <NUM> times compared with the capacity in the carbon-based negative electrode active material, and the silicon oxide is expected to have excellent cycle life characteristics since the volume change thereof at the time of charge and discharge is small due to the structural reason.

However, the silicon oxide generates lithium silicide and lithium oxides (lithium oxide and lithium silicate) through a reaction of lithium and silicon oxide at the time of initial charge, and here, the lithium oxides are not involved in subsequent electrochemical reactions, leading to an irreversible reaction in which some lithium moved to a negative electrode at the time of initial charge does not come back to a positive electrode at the time of discharge. The irreversible capacity of the silicon oxide is larger compared with the other silicon-based negative electrodes, and thus the initial efficiency, a ratio of discharge capacity to charge capacity at the initial time) thereof is <NUM>-<NUM>%, very low. This low initial efficiency requires excessive capacity of the positive electrode to configure a rechargeable battery, resulting in offsetting the capacity per unit mass of the negative electrode.

In order to solve the initial charge and discharge efficiency, which is one of the greatest problems of the silicon oxide negative electrode, studies about a method of supplementing reversible capacity by adding lithium to the negative electrode in advance or reducing the oxygen content in SiOx, or a method for reducing reversible lithium oxide generating reactions, are being actively conducted.

For the supplementation of the reversible capacity, a method of attaching a lithium foil to a surface of a negative electrode active material (Patent Document: <CIT>) and a method for depositing lithium on a surface of a negative electrode active material (Patent Document: <CIT>) have been reported, but these methods have a limitation in commercialization due to a high-priced lithium source, a very complicated manufacturing process, and safety in the handling.

In addition, a method of reducing the oxygen content in SiOx by adding a silicon powder to SiOx (Patent Document: <CIT>), and a method of obtaining a mixture solid of silicon and SiOx by simultaneously generating and precipitating a silicon vapor in the SiOx preparing step (Patent Document: <CIT>) have been reported. However, although silicon has higher initial charge and discharge efficiency and capacity, compared with SiOx, silicon exhibits a volume expansion rate of at least <NUM>% at the time of charge, and thus the degree of the volume expansion of SiOx is difficult to control even when silicon is added to SiOx and a carbon material. In addition, silicon has a limitation in commercialization since a high temperature of <NUM>,<NUM> or higher is needed due to a low vapor pressure of silicone in order to generate silicon and SiOx vapor at the same time and obtain a mixture thereof. In <CIT>, a specific cathode material for a secondary battery using a nonaqueous electrolyte is disclosed which includes a silicon-silicon oxide-based complex at least having a structure in which silicon particles having diameters of <NUM>-<NUM> are distributed in silicon oxide at atomic order and/or in a microcrystalline state, and having a Si/O molar ratio of <NUM>/<NUM>-<NUM>; and a carbon coat applied onto a surface of the silicon-silicon oxide-based complex at a coating amount of <NUM>-<NUM> mass% with respect to the silicon-silicon oxide-based complex.

In order to suppress the generation of lithium oxides, which are the causes of initial irreversibility at the time of charge and discharge for a rechargeable battery, there are a method of allowing SiOx to react with lithium hydroxide to be fused into SiLixOy (<NUM><x<<NUM>, <NUM><y<<NUM>), some of which is crystallized (Patent Document: <CIT>) and a method of allowing SiOx to react with a metal lithium powder to prepare a silicon-silicon oxide-lithium based composite (Patent Document: <CIT>). These methods improve the initial efficiency of the non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, but have problems in that the battery capacity is reduced, the stability of the paste deteriorates when an electrode is manufactured by using polyimide (PI) as a binder, the reactive heat and reaction rate are difficult to control through the use of a lithium source, and the cost of the source is increased, resulting in difficulty in industrial production.

In order to solve the problem caused by the reduction in the lithium oxide generating reaction causing irreversibility, there has been reported a method of preparing a magnesium- or calcium-doped silicon-silicon oxide composite while delaying the reaction rate, by coating a surface of the silicon-silicon oxide composite with carbon, followed by reaction with magnesium hydride (MgH<NUM>) or calcium hydride (CaH<NUM>). This method leaded to a stabilization in the electrode paste, an improvement in life characteristics, and an increase in the initial charge and discharge efficiency to about <NUM>% compared with SiOx, but in cases where the magnesium content was increased in order to attain an initial efficiency of <NUM>% or more, the size of silicon crystals was rapidly increased to several tens of nm or greater, and the discharging capacity and the life retention rate were rapidly decreased.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an aspect of the present invention is to provide a negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, a method for preparing the same, and a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery including the same, wherein the negative electrode active material contains a novel structure of silicon oxide composite for solving problems in that, when a metal is added to the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery to suppress the generation of lithium oxides, which are the causes of irreversibility, in order to improve the initial charge and discharge efficiency of the non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, the initial efficiency is improved, but the discharging capacity is reduced, and the cycle life characteristics deteriorate due to an increase in the size of silicon crystals.

The present invention provides a negative electrode active material as defined in claim <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the size of silicon crystals contained in the silicon oxide composite, which is determined by Scherrer equation on the basis of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the diffraction peak of Si (<NUM>) in the X-ray diffraction analysis, may be <NUM>-<NUM>.

In an embodiment, the average particle diameter (D<NUM>) of the silicon oxide composite may be <NUM>-<NUM>.

In an embodiment, the specific surface area of the silicon oxide composite may be <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>/g.

In an embodiment, the negative electrode active material may further include a coating layer or deposition layer containing a carbon-based material on a surface of the silicon oxide composite.

In an embodiment, the content of the carbon-based material may be <NUM>-<NUM> parts by weight on the basis of <NUM> parts by weight of the silicon oxide composite.

In another aspect, there is provided a lithium ion battery including the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery.

In another aspect, there is provided a method for preparing the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, the method being as defined in claim <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the method may further include, after step (iii) of pulverizing the silicon oxide composite, (iv) forming a coating layer or deposition layer containing a carbon-based material on a surface of the silicon oxide composite by injecting a carbon-based material source gas into the silicon oxide composite, followed by heating at <NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM> for <NUM> minutes to <NUM> hours.

However, the present invention may be realized in various different forms, and therefore is not limited to examples to be described herein.

As described above, in the case of the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, including a silicon oxide composite surface-coated with carbon, which was prepared according to the prior art, the electrochemical reaction of lithium and silicon oxide (SiOx) caused irreversible materials, such as lithium oxide (LiO<NUM>) and lithium silicate (Li<NUM>SiO<NUM>, Li<NUM>SiO<NUM>), and for the prevention of this, a silicon oxide reduced by a reaction with a metal (Li, Na, Mg, Al, Ca, etc.) capable of reducing silicon oxide was used as a negative electrode active material to reduce the irreversible capacity and improve the efficiency in the non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery. However, in the case where the silicon oxide (SiOx) powder is allowed to react with the solid metal powder of Mg, Al, Ca, etc., as in the prior art, the silicon oxide (SiOx) is reduced by the metal powder to suppress the generation of the irreversible materials, such as lithium oxide (LiO<NUM>) and lithium silicate (Li<NUM>SiO<NUM>, Li<NUM>SiO<NUM>), thereby improving the initial charge and discharge efficiency, but the silicon oxide (SiOx) reacts with the metal powders at a fast rate, resulting in a rapid disproportionation in which SiOx is decomposed into Si and SiO<NUM>, and silicon crystals grow to have a size of several tens of nm, thereby excessively increasing the volume change at the time of charge and discharge, resulting in the deterioration in cycle life characteristics.

Therefore, the present inventors repeated experiments for preparing a negative electrode active material with improved capacity characteristics and cycle characteristics through a reaction of a silicon oxide (SiOx) powder and a metal powder. As a result, a silicon oxide (SiOx) vapor and a vapor of a metal capable of reducing the silicon oxide (SiOx) vapor are simultaneously generated, and allowed to react with each other in a gas phase, thereby preparing a silicon oxide composite, of which silicon crystals are controlled to several nm levels and the battery capacity is retained through an efficient reaction of the added metal at a minimum content.

To this end, the present invention provides the negative electrode active material as defined in claim <NUM>.

As used herein, the term "silicon oxide" refers to a general compound represented by SiOx, and the silicon oxide may be amorphous or may have a structure in which silicon crystals are distributed in the silicon oxide, and preferably may have a structure in which silicon crystals are distributed in the silicon oxide.

In the present invention, the silicon oxide composite is Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM>.

In the X-ray diffraction analysis of the the silicon oxide composite of the present invention, the range of the relative ratio between the intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Si (<NUM>), ISi(<NUM>), and the intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM> (<NUM>), IMg2SiO4(<NUM>), is <NUM><IMg2SiO4(<NUM>)/ISi(<NUM>)<<NUM>. If the range of the relative ratio between an intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Si (<NUM>), ISi(<NUM>), and the intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM> (<NUM>) IMg2SiO4(<NUM>), is <NUM>, the addition amount of Mg is severely small, such that the diffraction peak belonging to Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM> (<NUM>) is not observed, and the effect by the addition of Mg is not shown. Meanwhile, if the range of the relative ratio between an intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Si (<NUM>), ISi(<NUM>), and the intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM> (<NUM>) IMg2SiO4(<NUM>), is greater than <NUM>, the size of the Si crystals is smaller than <NUM>, the silicon oxide composite is amorphous or the Si content is severely small, causing decreased efficiency and reduced capacity.

In the silicon oxide composite of the present invention, the size of the silicon crystals contained in the silicon oxide composite, which is determined by Scherrer equation on the basis of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the diffraction peak of Si (<NUM>) in the X-ray diffraction analysis, may be <NUM>-<NUM>, and preferably <NUM>-<NUM>.

The sizes of silicon crystals may be differently shown depending on the concentration of Mg and the precipitation temperature of the reaction material, and the size of the silicon crystals may be determined by Scherrer equation expressed by general formula (<NUM>) below on the basis of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the diffraction peak of Si (<NUM>) in the X-ray diffraction analysis. <MAT>
(In general formula (<NUM>) above, K= <NUM>, λ= <NUM>, B= full width at half maximum (FWHM, rad), <NUM>= peak position (angle)).

Silicon crystals with a size of smaller than <NUM> may result in a rapid reduction in the charge and discharge efficiency of the battery, and silicon crystals with a size of greater than <NUM> may result in reductions in capacity characteristics and cycle characteristics of the battery.

In the silicon oxide composite of the present invention, the average particle diameter (D<NUM>) of the silicon oxide composite powder may be <NUM>-<NUM>, and preferably <NUM>-<NUM>.

The average particle diameter of the silicon oxide composite powder may be a measurement value by weight average value D<NUM> (particle diameter or median diameter until the accumulative weight reaches <NUM>% of the total weight) in the particle size distribution measurement by laser light diffraction. If the average particle diameter (D<NUM>) of the silicon oxide composite is smaller than <NUM>, the specific surface area of the silicon oxide composite increases, and thus, at the time of preparing a slurry for a rechargeable battery electrode, the uniform mixing may be difficult, resulting in a non-uniform distribution of the negative electrode active material, and at the time of manufacturing an electrode, the consumption amount of the necessary binder is increased, resulting in a reduction in the efficiency in the negative electrode manufacturing process, and the charge and discharge capacity per unit volume may be decreased. Meanwhile, if the average particle diameter (D<NUM>) of the silicon oxide composite is greater than <NUM>, the manufacturing of an electrode film may be difficult, and the powder may be easily separated from a current collector due to the volume expansion of the silicon at the time of charge and discharge.

The silicon oxide composite of the present invention may have a specific surface area of <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>/g. A silicon oxide composite with a specific surface area of smaller than <NUM><NUM>/g may lead to a non-uniform electrode film in a coating process after the slurry is prepared, and whereas, a silicon oxide composite with a specific surface area of greater than <NUM><NUM>/g may cause many side reactions in the battery at the time of charge and discharge, resulting in a deterioration in battery characteristics.

A coating layer or deposition layer containing a carbon-based material may be formed on a surface of the silicon oxide composite of the present invention. Since the application of the silicon-based material as a negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery may cause an increase in electrical resistance, the silicon-based material may be surface-coated with carbon to improve conductivity.

The kind of carbon-based material is not particularly limited, but the carbon-based material in the mixture may include graphite-based materials, such as natural graphite, artificial graphite, and expanded graphite, carbon black-based materials, such as acetylene black and ketjen black, and carbon fiber-based materials; the carbon-based material in the coating layer or deposition layer on the surface of the silicon oxide composite may include hydrocarbon-based materials, such as methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, butane, acetylene, carbon monoxide, benzene, toluene, and xylene. Preferably, the carbon-based material may be in the coating layer or deposition layer formed on the surface of the silicon oxide composite in view of the fact that the carbon-based materials can increase the conductivity of the negative electrode active material.

The content of the carbon-based material may be <NUM>-<NUM> parts by weight, and preferably <NUM>-<NUM> parts by weight on the basis of <NUM> parts by weight of the silicon oxide composite of the present invention.

If the content of the carbon-based material is less than <NUM> part by weight on the basis of <NUM> parts by weight of the silicon oxide composite, the improvement in conductivity of the electrode, and charge and discharge characteristics of the battery, and cycle characteristics cannot be obtained, and whereas if the content of the carbon-based material is more than <NUM> parts by weight, there may not be problematic in view of conductivity of the electrode, charge and discharge characteristics of the battery, and cycle characteristics, but the specific surface area of the electrode increases, the preparing of the electrode slurry may be difficult or the battery capacity may be reduced.

To this end, there is provided a method for preparing the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, the method including: (i) simultaneously injecting a silicon oxide powder and Mg into a reactor, the silicon oxide powder being obtained by mixing silicon and silicon dioxide (SiO<NUM>) powders to have a mole ratio of <NUM> : <NUM> to <NUM> : <NUM>, the mole ratio of the silicon and Mg being <NUM> : <NUM> to <NUM> : <NUM>;.

(ii) heating the silicon oxide powder and Mg at <NUM>,<NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM>, followed by cooling at <NUM>-<NUM>, to precipitate a silicon oxide composite; and (iii) pulverizing the precipitated silicon oxide composite to an average particle diameter of <NUM>-<NUM>.

In step (ii) of precipitating the silicon oxide composite, the silicon oxide composite may be obtained by allowing gas-phase silicon oxide (SiOx) to react with gas-phase
Mg, followed by cooling and precipitation.

If the temperature for heating the silicon oxide mixture powder is lower than <NUM>,<NUM>, it may be difficult to improve the initial efficiency through heat treatment, and if the temperature is higher than <NUM>,<NUM>, the silicon crystals excessively grow, and causes cracks in a structure of the silicon oxide composite by volume expansion and contraction of silicon crystals due to the absorption of lithium ions, resulting in a deterioration in cycle characteristics.

The gas-phase silicon oxide (SiOx) and the gas-phase Mg of the present invention is formed by a heating process under a reduced pressure atmosphere of <NUM>-<NUM> torr (<NUM> to <NUM> hPa).

After the silicon oxide mixture powder is heated, the temperature for precipitating the silicon oxide composite through cooling is <NUM>-<NUM>. If the temperature for precipitating the silicon oxide composite through cooling is lower than <NUM>, the silicon oxide and the Mg react with each other in a gas phase and then are rapidly cooled, thereby generating a nanopowder, and thus the specific surface area of the silicon oxide composite is rapidly increased, resulting in a deterioration in battery characteristics. If the temperature is higher than <NUM>, the size of the silicon crystals is increased to several tens of nm or greater, and thus the life characteristics of the battery may rapidly deteriorate.

The method for preparing a negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, may further include, after step (iii) of pulverizing the silicon oxide composite, step (iv) of forming a coating layer or deposition layer containing a carbon-based material on a surface of the silicon oxide composite by injecting a carbon-based material source gas into the silicon oxide composite, followed by heating at <NUM>-<NUM>,<NUM> for <NUM> minutes to <NUM> hours.

The forming of a coating layer or deposition layer containing a carbon-based material on the surface of the silicon oxide composite is not particularly limited, but the coating layer or deposition layer containing a carbon-based material may be formed by forming an organic polymer film on the surface of the silicon oxide composite and then thermally decomposing the organic polymer film in the inactive atmosphere, or thermally treating a hydrocarbon or organic gas and using a chemical vapor deposition method, and preferably by using the chemical vapor deposition method.

If the temperature for the chemical vapor deposition method is lower than <NUM>, the carbon-based material may not be formed or extremely slowly generated, resulting in a deterioration in productivity, and if the temperature is higher than <NUM>,<NUM>, the decomposition of the source gas is promoted and thus the carbon-based material may not be well formed.

For the carbon-based source gas, hydrocarbon-based materials, such as benzene, toluene, xylene, methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, butane, acetylene, and carbon monoxide, may be used, and cheaper liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be used.

The carbon-based material formed on the surface of the silicon oxide composite may include any one or a combination, selected from crystalline carbon, amorphous carbon, carbon fiber, carbon whisker, carbon nanofiber, carbon nanotube, graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide.

In addition, the present invention may be used to prepare a negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, containing the above-described negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery; and a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery including the same.

The negative electrode may be formed of only a negative electrode material mixture, and may be formed of a negative electrode current collector and a negative electrode material mixture layer supported thereon. Likewise, a positive electrode may be formed of only a positive electrode material mixture, and may be formed of a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode material mixture layer supported thereon. In addition, the negative electrode material mixture and the positive electrode material mixture may further include a conductor, a binder, and the like.

As a material constituting the negative electrode current collector and a material constituting the positive electrode current collector, materials that are known in the art may be used, and as a binder and a conductor added to the negative electrode and the positive electrode, materials that are known in the art may be used.

In the case where the negative electrode is configured of a current collector and an active material layer supported thereon, the negative electrode may be manufactured by coating a surface of the current collector with a material mixture paste containing the silicon composite prepared in step (ii) and a carbon material, followed by drying.

A non-aqueous electrolyte may contain a non-aqueous solvent and a lithium salt dissolved in the non-aqueous solvent. As the non-aqueous solvent, a solvent that is generally used in the art may be used, and preferably an aprotic organic solvent may be used. As the aprotic organic solvent, cyclic carbonates, such as ethylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, and butylene carbonate, cyclic carbonic acid esters such as furanone, chain carbonates, such as diethyl carbonate, ethyl methyl carbonate, and dimethyl carbonate, chain ethers, such as <NUM>,<NUM>-methoxy ethane, <NUM>,<NUM>-ethoxy ethane, and ethoxy methoxy ethane, and cyclic ethers, such as tetrahydrofurane and <NUM>-methyl tetrahydrofurane, may be used alone or in a mixture of two or more thereof.

Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described in detail.

<NUM> of a mixture powder, in which a silicon powder and a silicon dioxide (SiO<NUM>) powder were uniformly mixed at a mole ratio of <NUM>:<NUM>, and <NUM> of magnesium were thermally treated at <NUM>,<NUM> under a reduced pressure atmosphere of <NUM>-<NUM> torr (<NUM> to <NUM> hPa) to simultaneously generate a silicon oxide vapor, which is contained in the silicon oxide mixture powder, and a magnesium vapor, followed by reaction in a gas phase, cooling at <NUM>, precipitation, and pulverization using a jet mill, thereby collecting a magnesium-containing silicon oxide composite powder having an average particle diameter (D<NUM>) of <NUM>,.

The collected silicon oxide composite powder was subjected to CVD treatment using a tube type electric furnace in conditions of <NUM>,<NUM> and <NUM> hours under a mixture gas of argon (Ar) and methanol (CH<NUM>), thereby preparing a magnesium-containing silicon oxide composite (sample <NUM>) with a carbon coating layer having a carbon content of <NUM> wt%.

As a result of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis of the magnesium-containing silicon oxide composite (sample <NUM>), the magnesium concentration was confirmed to be <NUM> wt%, and as a result of X-ray diffraction analysis (CuKα), the size of silicon crystals was confirmed to be <NUM>.

A magnesium-containing silicon oxide composite (sample <NUM>) was prepared by the same method as in example <NUM>, except that the injection amount of magnesium was increased to <NUM> in example <NUM> above.

A silicon powder and a silicon dioxide (SiO<NUM>) powder were uniformly mixed at a mole ratio of <NUM>:<NUM>, and then thermally treated at <NUM>,<NUM> under a reduced pressure atmosphere of <NUM>-<NUM> torr (<NUM> to <NUM> hPa) to generate a silicon oxide vapor, followed by reaction in a gas phase, cooling at <NUM>, precipitation, and pulverization using a jet mill, thereby collecting a silicon oxide powder (sample <NUM>) having an average particle diameter (D<NUM>) of <NUM>.

The collected silicon oxide powder was subjected to CVD treatment using a tube type electric furnace in conditions of <NUM>,<NUM> and <NUM> hours under a mixture gas of argon (Ar) and methanol (CH<NUM>), thereby preparing a silicon oxide (sample <NUM>-<NUM>) with a carbon coating layer having a carbon content of <NUM> wt%.

As a result of X-ray diffraction analysis (CuKα) of the silicon oxide (sample <NUM>-<NUM>), the size of silicon crystals was confirmed to be <NUM>.

The silicon oxide powder (sample <NUM>) collected in comparative example <NUM> was subjected to CVD treatment using a tube type electric furnace in conditions of <NUM>,<NUM> and <NUM> hours under a mixture gas of argon (Ar) and methanol (CH<NUM>), thereby preparing a silicon oxide (sample <NUM>) with a carbon coating layer having a carbon content of <NUM> wt%.

As a result of X-ray diffraction analysis (CuKα) of the silicon oxide (sample <NUM>), the size of silicon crystals was confirmed to be <NUM>.

The silicon oxide ( sample <NUM>-<NUM> ) prepared in comparative example <NUM> and an aluminum powder having an average particle diameter of <NUM> were mixed, followed by heat treatment at <NUM>, thereby preparing an aluminum-containing silicon oxide composite (sample <NUM>).

As a result of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analysis of the aluminum-containing silicon oxide composite (sample <NUM>), the aluminum concentration was confirmed to be <NUM> wt%, and as a result of X-ray diffraction analysis (CuKα), the size of silicon crystals was confirmed to be <NUM>.

X-ray diffraction analysis results of the samples prepared in examples <NUM> and <NUM> were shown in <FIG> and <FIG>.

In addition, the relative ratio between the intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Si (<NUM>), ISi(<NUM>), and the intensity of a diffraction peak belonging to Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM> (<NUM>), IMg2SiO4(<NUM>) was calculated, and tabulated in table <NUM> below.

A slurry type composition was prepared by mixing samples <NUM> to <NUM>, which were prepared in examples <NUM> and <NUM> and comparative examples <NUM> to <NUM>, as a negative electrode active material, Super-P-black as a conductor, and polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a binder, at a weight ratio of <NUM>:<NUM>:<NUM>, with N-methyl pyrrolidone.

The composition was coated and dried on a <NUM>-thick copper foil, thereby forming a <NUM>-thick active material layer on one surface of the copper foil, and the active material layer was punched into a circle with a diameter of 14φ, thereby forming an electrode for testing. A metal lithium foil with a thickness of <NUM> was used as a counter electrode.

A porous polyethylene sheet with a thickness of <NUM> was used as a separator, and a solution, in which LiPF<NUM> as a lithium salt was dissolved at a concentration of about <NUM> mol/L in a mixture solvent of ethylene carbonate (EC) and diethylene carbonate (DEC) (<NUM>:<NUM> volume ratio), was used as an electrolyte. These components were placed in a stainless container, and then a coin cell having a general shape with a thickness of <NUM> and a diameter of <NUM> (so called Form <NUM>) was manufactured.

The coin cell manufactured for each sample in the above preparative examples was charged with a static current of <NUM> C to reach a voltage of <NUM> V, and discharged with a static current of <NUM> C to reach a voltage of <NUM> V, thereby obtaining discharging capacity and initial efficiency.

In addition, the coin cell manufactured for each sample in the above preparative examples was charged with a static current of <NUM> C to reach a voltage of <NUM> V, and discharged with a static current of <NUM> C to reach a voltage of <NUM> V, thereby obtaining cycle characteristics after one cycle of charge/discharge.

The charging capacity, initial efficiency, and cycle characteristics were calculated as below, and the results were tabulated in table <NUM> below.

As shown in table <NUM> above, it was verified that the coin cell batteries containing sample <NUM> and sample <NUM> using the magnesium-containing silicon oxide composite as a negative electrode active material had an improved initial charge and discharge efficiency and a high capacity retention ratio.

In addition, it was verified that, in the coin cell batteries using the silicon oxide (SiOx) of samples <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>, compared with samples <NUM> and <NUM>, as a negative electrode active material, the capacity retention ratio was high, but the initial charge and discharge efficiency was less than <NUM>%.

Meanwhile, it was verified that, in the coin cell battery using the aluminum-containing silicon oxide composite prepared in sample <NUM> as a negative electrode, the initial efficiency was improved, but at the time of charge and discharge, the disproportionation reaction proceeds to cause a rapid growth of silicon crystals, resulting in an unstable structure, and thus the capacity retention ratio was remarkably low.

The foregoing description of the invention is for illustrative purposes, and a person having ordinary skilled in the art will appreciate that other specific modifications can be easily made without departing from the technical spirit or essential features of the invention. Therefore, the foregoing examples should be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting in all aspects. For example, some components, each of which has been described as being a single form, can be embodied in the distributed form, whereas some components, which have been described as being distributed, can be embodied in the combined form.

The scope of the present invention is not defined by the detailed description as set forth above but by the accompanying claims of the invention, and it should also be understood that all changes or modifications derived from the definitions and scopes of the claims and their equivalents fall within the scope of the invention.

According to the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, containing a silicon oxide composite, of the present invention, a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery can be manufactured that has a high battery capacitance and improved cycle characteristics and charge and discharge efficiency, and is applicable in the field of rechargeable battery industry.

According to the negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, including a silicon oxide composite, a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery can be manufactured that has high battery capacity, and improved cycle characteristics and charge and discharge efficiency.

Claim 1:
A negative electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte rechargeable battery, comprising a silicon oxide composite, the silicon oxide composite containing
i) silicon,
ii) a silicon oxide represented by general formula SiOx (<NUM><x<<NUM>), and
iii) Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM>,
wherein the silicon oxide composite exhibits at least one <NUM> theta diffraction peak in each of the ranges of <NUM>° to <NUM>° by the silicon and <NUM>° to <NUM>° by the Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM>, in the X-ray diffraction analysis, and
wherein, in the X-ray diffraction analysis of the silicon oxide composite, the range of the relative ratio between the intensity of a <NUM> theta diffraction peak belonging to Si (<NUM>), ISi(<NUM>), and the intensity of a <NUM> theta diffraction peak belonging to Mg<NUM>SiO<NUM> (<NUM>), IMg2SiO4(<NUM>), is <NUM> < IMg2SiO4(<NUM>) / ISi(<NUM>) < <NUM>;
wherein there is no peak corresponding to SiO<NUM> crystals in the range of <NUM>° to <NUM>° in the X-ray diffraction analysis.