The present invention belongs to the field of battery materials, and relates to a process for preparing a particulate lithium manganese nickel spinel compound, and materials produced by the process. The process of the invention uses Mn-containing precursors, Ni-containing precursors, Li-containing precursors and optionally M-containing precursor which form substantially no NOx ases during calcination. The particulate lithium manganese nickel spinel compound product of the process may find use in a lithium ion battery.

Provided are a battery-level Ni—Co—Mn mixed solution and a preparation method for a battery-level Mn solution, the steps thereof comprising: acid dissolution (S1), alkalization to remove impurities (S2), synchronous precipitation of calcium, magnesium, and lithium (S3), deep ageing to remove impurities (S4), synergistic extraction (S5), and refining extraction (S6).

The steps of deep ageing to remove impurities (S4) and synergistic extraction (S5) comprise: performing deep ageing on a filtrate obtained from the step of synchronous precipitation of calcium, magnesium, and lithium (S3), and after performing filtration to remove impurities, obtaining an aged filtrate; using P204 to extract the aged filtrate and obtain a loaded organic phase, and subjecting the loaded organic phase to staged back-extraction to obtain the battery-level Ni—Co—Mn mixed solution and a Mn-containing solution. By means of the cooperation between the multiple process steps of synchronous precipitation of calcium, magnesium, and lithium (S3), deep ageing to remove impurities (S4), and synergistic extraction (S5), the impurity content of the obtained battery-level Ni—Co—Mn mixed solution is significantly lowered, and the battery-level Ni—Co—Mn mixed solution can be directly used to prepare a lithium battery ternary precursor material. At the same time, the battery-level Mn solution can also be obtained, which is favorable for large-scale applications of the process and increasing economic benefits.

A positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, according to an example of this embodiment, includes a lithium transition metal composite oxide which has a layered structure and contains at least Ni, Al, and Ca. The lithium transition metal composite oxide has a Ni content of 85-95 mol %, an Al content of at most 8 mol %, and a Ca content of at most 2 mol % with respect to the total amount of metal elements other than Li. In addition, the proportion of metal elements other than Li present in a Li layer is 0.6-2.0 mol % with respect to the total amount of metal elements other than Li contained in the composite oxide.

A coated positive electrode active material according to the present disclosure includes a positive electrode active material and a coating layer coating at least partially a surface of the positive electrode active material. The coating layer includes Li, Zr, and F. A material of the coating layer may be represented, for example, by composition formula (1) Li.sub.αZr.sub.βF.sub.γ . . . Formula (1). In the composition formula (1), the symbols α, β, and γ satisfy 0<α<8, 0<β≤1.1, and 0<γ≤8. A positive electrode material of the present disclosure includes the coated positive electrode active material and a first solid electrolyte. A battery of the present disclosure includes a positive electrode including the positive electrode material, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte layer provided between the positive electrode and the negative electrode.

Disclosed are a positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method of preparing the same, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same.

The positive active material includes a first positive active material in a form of secondary particles including a plurality of primary particles that are aggregated together, and a second positive active material having a single crystal form, wherein both of the first positive active material and the second positive active material are nickel-based positive active materials, each of the first positive active material and the second positive active material is coated with cobalt, and a maximum roughness of a surface of the second positive active material is greater than or equal to about 15 nm.

A cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery includes a core portion comprising a lithium metal oxide particle, and a coating layer at least partially covering a surface of the core portion and including a lithium boron composite oxide. The lithium boron composite oxide is included in an amount from 100 ppm to 1,500 ppm based on a total weight of the cathode active material. A lithium secondary battery having improved structural stability and electrical property is provided using the cathode active material.

According to an embodiment, there is provided an electrode including an active material-containing layer. A logarithmic differential pore volume distribution curve of the active material-containing layer by a mercury intrusion method includes first and second peaks. The first peak is a local maximum value in a range where a pore size is from 0.1 μm or more to 0.5 μm or less. The second peak is a local maximum value in a range where the pore size is from 0.5 μm or more to 1.0 μm or less. An intensity A1 of the first peak and an intensity A2 of the second peak satisfy 0.1≤A2/A1≤0.3. A density of the active material-containing layer is from 2.9 g/cm.sup.3 or more to 3.3 g/cm.sup.3 or less.

A positive electrode active material for a secondary battery includes a first positive electrode active material and a second positive electrode active material, wherein an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of the first positive electrode active material is twice or more than an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of the second positive electrode active material, and the second positive electrode active material has a crystallite size of 200 nm or more.

A positive electrode active material for a secondary battery includes a first positive electrode active material and a second positive electrode active material, wherein an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of the first positive electrode active material is twice or more than an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of the second positive electrode active material, and the second positive electrode active material has a crystallite size of 200 nm or more.

Provided is a positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, the active material including a lithium-transition metal composite oxide containing lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, having a layered structure, having a ratio D.sub.50/D.sub.SEM of from 1 to 4, and having a ratio of a number of moles of nickel to a total number of moles of metals other than lithium of greater than 0.8 and less than 1, a ratio of a number of moles of cobalt to the total number of moles of metals other than lithium of less than 0.2, a ratio of a number of moles of manganese to the total number of moles of metals other than lithium of less than 0.2, and a ratio of the number of moles of manganese to a sum of the number of moles of cobalt and the number of moles of manganese of less than 0.58.