Patent ID: 7736806

Claim:
A negative electrode material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, which is configured for absorbing and desorbing lithium, characterized in that said negative electrode material comprises a composite particle including solid phases A and B, said solid phase A being dispersed in said solid phase B, said solid phase A comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of silicon, tin and zinc, said solid phase B comprises a solid solution or an intermetallic compound, which contains: the constituent element of said solid phase A; and at least one element selected from the group consisting of the elements of Group 2, transition, Group 12, Group 13 and Group 14 which are listed in Long Form of Periodic Table, except for the constituent element of said solid phase A and carbon, and the half width (W) (radian) of the maximum peak intensity of diffracted X-rays, attributed to said solid phase A, satisfies 0.001≦W≦0.1, in terms of a diffraction line obtained by a wide-angle X-ray diffraction measurement of said composite particle.