A particulate precursor compound for manufacturing a lithium transition metal oxide powder for use as an active positive electrode material in lithium-ion batteries, the precursor having the general formula Ni.sub.xMn.sub.yCo.sub.zA.sub.aO.sub.v(OH).sub.w, wherein 0.15<v<0.30, v+w=2, 0.30x0.75, 0.10y0.40, 0.10z0.40, A being a dopant with a0.05, and x+y+z+a=1, the precursor consisting of a crystal structure having an XRD pattern with twin peaks at 2=380.5, the twin peaks having a left peak having a peak intensity I.sub.L and a right peak having a peak intensity I.sub.R, and a peak intensity ratio R=I.sub.R/I.sub.L with R>0.7, and the XRD pattern being free of peaks belonging to either one or both of a spinel and an oxyhydroxide compound.

In accordance with the present invention, there are provided positive electrode active substance particles for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries which is excellent in life characteristics of a battery with respect to a repeated charging and discharging performance thereof, as well as a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery. The present invention relates to a positive electrode active substance for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries comprising lithium transition metal layered oxide having a composition represented by the formula: Li.sub.a(Ni.sub.xCo.sub.yMn.sub.1-x-y)O.sub.2 wherein a is 1.0a1.15; x is 0<x<1; and y is 0<y<1, in which the positive electrode active substance is in the form of secondary particles formed by aggregating primary particles thereof, and a coefficient of variation of a compositional ratio: Li/Me wherein Me is a sum of Ni, Co and Mn (Me=Ni+Co+Mn) as measured on a section of the secondary particle is not more than 25%.

Aluminum dry-coated and heat treated cathode material precursors. A particulate precursor compound for manufacturing an aluminum coatedlithium transition metal (M)-oxide powder usable as an active positive electrode material in lithium-ion batteries includes a transition metal (M)-oxide core and a non-amorphous aluminum oxide coating layercovering the core. By providing a heat treatment process for mixed metal precursors that may be combined with an aluminum dry-coating process, novel aluminum containing precursors that may be used to form high quality nickel based cathode materials are obtained. The aluminum dry-coated and heat treated precursors include particles have, compared to prior art precursors, relatively low impurity levels of carbonate and/or sulfide, and can be produced at lower cost.

Methods are presented for synthesizing a metal precursor for a cathode-active material. The methods include adding urea to a solution comprising dissolved ions of at least one transition metal selected from Mn, Co, and Ni. The methods also include increasing a pH of the aqueous solution to a threshold pH. The methods additionally include heating the aqueous solution to precipitate a compound that includes the at least one transition metal. Such heating may involve urea decomposition. Methods are also presented that include filtering the compound from the solution and contacting the compound with at least a lithium precursor to produce a reactant charge. In these methods, the reactant charge is calcined to produce the cathode-active material. Other methods are presented.

Disclosed are precursor particles of a lithium composite transition metal oxide for lithium secondary batteries, wherein the precursor particles of a lithium composite transition metal oxide are composite transition metal hydroxide particles including at least two transition metals and having an average diameter of 1 m to 8 m, wherein the composite transition metal hydroxide particles exhibit monodisperse particle size distribution and have a coefficient of variation of 0.2 to 0.7, and a cathode active material including the same.

Methods of making such compounds, powders, and cathode active materials are described. The powders are formed of particles with specific properties: a particle size distribution with a D50 ranging from 10 m to 20 m, a D10 less than 8 m, and a D99 of the particles ranges from 25 m to 35 m. The final compound is represented by the Formula Li.sub.(Co.sub.1-x-y-zMn.sub.xMe.sub.zAl.sub.y)O.sub., wherein 0.95<<1.05, x1.00, 0<y0.04, 0<z0.050, and 2.