Patent ID: 7422824

Claim:
A positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, comprising a particle of a composite oxide which contains Li and Co, wherein: said composite oxide further contains an element M 1 and an element M 2 ; said element M 1 is at least one selected from the group consisting of Mg, Cu and Zn; said element M 2 is at least one selected from the group consisting of Al, Ca, Ba, Sr, Y and Zr; said element M 1 is uniformly distributed in said particle; and said element M 2 is distributed in the surface portion of said particle more than in the inside thereof, wherein a ratio R 1 of the number of moles of M 1 to the total number of moles of Li, Co, M 1 and M 2 which are contained in said composite oxide is not less than 0.5% and not more than 8%, and a ratio R 2 of the number of moles of M 2 to said total number of moles is not less than 0.05% and not more than 2%.