Cathode material from exhausted lithium ion batteries are dissolved in a solution for extracting the useful elements Co (cobalt), Ni (nickel), Al (Aluminum) and Mn (manganese) to produce active cathode materials for new batteries. The solution includes compounds of desirable materials such as cobalt, nickel, aluminum and manganese dissolved as compounds from the exhausted cathode material of spent cells. Depending on a desired proportion, or ratio, of the desired materials, raw materials are added to the solution to achieve the desired ratio of the commingled compounds for the recycled cathode material for new cells. The desired materials precipitate out of solution without extensive heating or separation of the desired materials into individual compounds or elements. The resulting active cathode material has the predetermined ratio for use in new cells, and avoids high heat typically required to separate the useful elements because the desired materials remain commingled in solution.

This positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries contains a lithium transition metal composite oxide. This lithium transition metal composite oxide is represented by general formula Li.sub.xMn.sub.yNi.sub.zMe.sub.2-x-y-zO.sub.aF.sub.b (wherein 1≤x≤1.2; 0.4≤y≤0.7; 0.1≤z≤0.4; 0<b≤0.2; 1.9≤a+b≤2.1; and Me represents at least one element selected from among Co, Al, Ti, Ge, Nb, Sr, Mg, Si, P and Sb), while having a BET specific surface area of from 1 m.sup.2/g to 4 m.sup.2/g and an average pore diameter of 100 nm or less.

The method of preparing a positive electrode capable of reducing the usage amount of a rinsing solution, and minimizing the surface degradation of a positive electrode active material is provided. A method of preparing a positive electrode active material includes: (A) preparing a lithium transition metal oxide; and (B) mixing the lithium transition metal oxide and a rinsing solution and performing rinsing and drying, wherein the rinsing solution includes one or more additive of LiOH, NaOH, or KOH, the additive is included in an amount of 3,000 ppm to 18,000 ppm relative to the lithium transition metal oxide in the rinsing solution, and the rinsing solution has a pH of 12 or more.

A positive active material precursor for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method for preparing a positive active material using the same, and a positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery are provided. The positive active material precursor for a rechargeable lithium battery has a form of a core-shell particle including a core and a shell around the core, where the core includes a nickel-manganese-based composite hydroxide containing nickel and manganese, the shell includes a nickel-manganese-based composite hydroxide containing nickel, manganese, and a pillar element, and the pillar element includes at least one selected from Al, Mo, Ti, W, and Zr.

Provided are a positive electrode active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, a method of preparing the same, and a rechargeable lithium battery including the same, the positive electrode active material for a rechargeable lithium battery including a secondary particle in which a plurality of primary particles including a lithium nickel-based composite oxide are aggregated, wherein at least a portion of the primary particles are arranged radially, a boron coating layer on the surface of the secondary particles and containing lithium borate, and a boron-doped layer inside the primary particle exposed to the surface of the secondary particle.

A process for producing a lithium transition metal oxide is provided. The process comprises pre-calcination of a transition metal precursor in the absence of a lithium source followed by a high-temperature calcination of the pre-calcined intermediate compound in the presence of a lithium source.

A lithium-rich manganese-based positive electrode material and a preparation method therefor and an application thereof. The positive electrode material comprises a matrix (10) and a coating layer (20). The coating layer (20) coats the matrix (10). The matrix (10) comprises Li.sub.1+αNi.sub.βM.sub.μO.sub.2-νF.sub.ν and Li.sub.2+α′M′O.sub.3-ν′F.sub.ν′. The coating layer (20) comprises M″.sub.μ′O.sub.ν″ and M″′.sub.μ″O.sub.ν″′. The lithium-rich manganese-based positive electrode material can improve both the rate performance and cycle life of the positive electrode material.

Disclosed are an aluminum-coated precursor and a preparation method therefor. The aluminum coated precursor has a chemical formula of xMCO.sub.3(1-x).Al(OH).sub.3, wherein M is at least one of nickel, cobalt and manganese, and x is 0.995-0.999. The aluminum-coated precursor has the advantages of a controllable particle size and uniform particle size distribution, a high degree of sphericity, a smooth particle surface, a high tap density, not easily breaking, and an excellent electrochemical performance and energy density.

A preparation method for a high nickel ternary precursor capable of preferential growth of crystal planes by adjusting and controlling the addition amount of seed crystals. The method comprises the following steps: 1) feeding a ternary metal solution into a reaction kettle containing a first base liquid for reaction, and when the particle size reaches 1.5 to 3.0 μm, stopping the feeding, so as to obtain a seed crystal slurry; 2) simultaneously adding the ternary metal solution, a liquid alkali solution, and an ammonia solution in cocurrent flow into a growth kettle containing a second base solution for reaction, when the particle size reaches 6 to 8 μm, adding the seed crystal slurry into the reaction system, and controlling the particle size to be 9.0 to 11.0 μm by adjusting the feed rate of the seed crystal, so as to obtain the target object. In the preparation method, by adding seed crystals continuously, the crystal plane parameters of 001 peak in the prepared ternary precursor material is lower than the crystal plane parameters of 101 peak, facilitating the embedding of Li ions, and effectively improving the performance of a battery prepared by using the material.

A positive electrode active material precursor for a secondary battery, which is a secondary particle in which primary particles are aggregated, includes a core portion including nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and manganese (Mn), and a shell portion surrounding a surface of the core portion and including nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), and aluminum (Al), wherein the core portion and the shell portion has rod-shaped primary particles, and an average major axis length of the primary particles of the shell portion is smaller than an average major axis length of the primary particles of the core portion. A method of preparing the positive electrode active material precursor, and a positive electrode active material prepared by using the positive electrode active material precursor are also provided.