The present invention relates to an anode active material for lithium secondary battery and a lithium secondary battery including the same, and more specifically it relates to an anode active material for lithium secondary battery in which the a lithium ion diffusion path in the primary particles is formed to exhibit specific directivity, and a lithium secondary battery including the same. The cathode active material for lithium secondary battery of the present invention has a lithium ion diffusion path exhibiting specific directivity in the primary particles and the secondary particles, thus not only the conduction velocity of the lithium ion is fast and the lithium ion conductivity is high but also the cycle characteristics are improved as the crystal structure hardly collapses despite repeated charging and discharging.

An electrode assembly includes a composite body which includes an active material layer containing an active material constituted by a transition metal oxide, a solid electrolyte layer (solid electrolyte portion) containing a solid electrolyte, and a multiple oxide molded body (multiple oxide portion) containing at least one of a metal multiple oxide represented by the following general formula (1): Ln.sub.2Li.sub.0.5M.sub.0.5O.sub.4 (wherein Ln represents a lanthanoid, and M represents a transition metal) and a derivative thereof, and a current collector which is provided on one face (one of the faces) of the composite body by being bonded to the active material layer, wherein in the composite body, the multiple oxide molded body, the active material layer, and the solid electrolyte layer are formed in contact with each other in this order from the side of the one face of the composite body.

An electrode assembly includes a composite body which includes an active material layer containing an active material constituted by a transition metal oxide, a solid electrolyte layer (solid electrolyte portion) containing a solid electrolyte, and a multiple oxide molded body (multiple oxide portion) containing at least one of a metal multiple oxide represented by the following general formula (1): Ln.sub.2Li.sub.0.5M.sub.0.5O.sub.4 (wherein Ln represents a lanthanoid, and M represents a transition metal) and a derivative thereof, and a current collector which is provided on one face (one of the faces) of the composite body by being bonded to the active material layer, wherein in the composite body, the multiple oxide molded body, the active material layer, and the solid electrolyte layer are formed in contact with each other in this order from the side of the one face of the composite body.

A lithium secondary battery is produced by employing a charging method where a positive electrode upon charging has a maximum achieved potential of 4.3 V (vs. Li/Li.sup.+) or lower. The lithium secondary battery contains an active material including a solid solution of a lithium transition metal composite oxide having an α-NaFeO.sub.2-type crystal structure. The solid solution has a diffraction peak observed near 20 to 30° in X-ray diffractometry using CuKα radiation for a monoclinic Li[Li.sub.1/3Mn.sub.2/3]O.sub.2-type before charge-discharge. The lithium secondary battery is charged to reach at least a region with substantially flat fluctuation of potential appearing in a positive electrode potential region exceeding 4.3 V (vs. Li/Li.sup.+) and 4.8 V (vs. Li/Li.sup.+) or lower. A dischargeable electric quantity in a potential region of 4.3 V (vs. Li/Li.sup.+) or lower is 177 mAh/g or higher.

A doped spinel comprising the formula:
Li.sub.1±wMe1.sub.vMe2.sub.x-vMn.sub.2-x-yTiyO.sub.4-zF.sub.z
where, 0≦w<1, 0.3<x≦0.7, 0.3≦v<0.7, x>v, 0.0001≦y≦0.35, and 0.0001≦z≦0.3. Me1 is a metal selected from a group of elements consisting of Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn. Me2 is a metal selected from a group of elements consisting of Ni, Fe, Co, Mg, Cr, V, Ru, Mg, Al, Zn, Cu, Cd, Ag, Y, Sc, Ga, In, As, Sb, Pt, Au, and B.

Embodiments of inorganic electrode materials that utilize nanostructure surface modifications via functionalization via carbonate/carboxylate to achieve superior electrochemical performance and methods of producing same.

A mixed conductor represented by Formula 1:
A.sub.4±xTi.sub.5−yG.sub.zO.sub.12−δ  Formula 1 wherein, in Formula 1, A is a monovalent cation, G is at least one of a monovalent cation, a divalent cation, a trivalent cation, a tetravalent cation, a pentavalent cation, or a hexavalent cation, with the proviso that G is not Ti or Cr, wherein 0<x<2, 0.3<y<5, 0<z<5, and 0<δ≤3.

Particulate LMFP cathode materials having high manganese contents and small amounts of dopant metals are disclosed. These cathode materials are made by milling a mixture of precursor materials in a wet or dry milling process. Preferably, off-stoichiometric amounts of starting materials are used to make the cathode materials. Unlike other high manganese LMFP materials, these cathode materials provide high specific capacities, very good cycle life and high energies even at high discharge rates.

The present invention provides a method of producing a lithium mixed metal oxide, a lithium mixed metal oxide and a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery. The method includes a step of calcining a mixture of one or more compounds of M wherein M is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt and manganese, and a lithium compound, in the presence of one or more inactive fluxes selected from the group consisting of a fluoride of A, a chloride of A, a carbonate of A, a sulfate of A, a nitrate of A, a phosphate of A, a hydroxide of A, a molybdate of A and a tungstate of A, wherein A is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Na, K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Mg, Sr and Ba. The lithium mixed metal oxide contains nickel, cobalt and manganese, has a BET specific surface area of from 3 m.sup.2/g to 15 m.sup.2/g, and has an average particle diameter within a range of 0.1 μm or more to less than 1 μm, the diameter determined by a laser diffraction scattering method.

A method of preparing a positive active material for a lithium secondary battery represented by the following Chemical Formula 1 (Li.sub.wNi.sub.xCo.sub.yMn.sub.1-x-y-zM.sub.zO.sub.2) includes: (a) preparing a metal salt aqueous solution including a lithium raw material, a manganese raw material, a nickel raw material, and a cobalt raw material; (b) wet-pulverizing the metal salt aqueous solution using beads having a particle diameter of 0.05 to 0.30 mm at 2000 to 6000 rpm for 2 to 12 hours to prepare a slurry; (c) adding a carbon source to the slurry; (d) spray-drying the slurry of the step (c) to prepare a mixed powder; and (e) heat-treating the mixed powder.