Patent ID: 7776475

Claim:
A lithium rechargeable battery, comprising: a positive electrode comprising a positive active material that intercalates and deintercalates lithium; a negative electrode comprising a current collector comprising Cu or a Cu alloy and a negative active material that intercalates and deintercalates lithium; and an electrolyte that transfers lithium ions, the electrolyte comprising a solvent and a multi-functional compound that has at least two functional groups and high affinity for Cu or a Cu alloy, the solvent comprising at least one of cyclic carbonates and linear carbonates, wherein the multi-functional compound is at least one selected from the group consisting of pimelonitrile, suberonitrile, azelanitrile, sebaconitrile, dodecanedinitrile, phthalonitrile, isophthalonitrile, tetraphthalonitrile, oxydipropinonitrile, ethyleneglycolbispropinonitrileether, thiodipropinonitrile, triscyanoethylamine and triscyanoethoxypropane.