The present invention provides a process is presented for preparing a positive electrode active material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries. The process comprises a sintering step having a short sintering time. This improves the production throughput. More particularly, the process applies to positive electrode active material powders having a general formula Li.sub.(1+a)(Ni.sub.xMn.sub.yCo.sub.zMe.sub.c).sub.(1−a)O.sub.2, wherein Me comprises at least one element of the group consisting of Al, Mg, Ti, Zr, W, Nb, B, and Sr, with −0.1≤a≤0.1, 0.33≤x≤0.95, 0≤y≤0.35, 0<z≤0.35, 0≤c≤0.05, and x+y+z+c=1. The sintering step is performed for a predefined sintering time t.sub.s, expressed in hours, and at a predefined temperature T.sub.s, expressed in ° C., such that 0.3≤t.sub.s≤6.0, and 1140+50 Log.sub.10 (6/t)−580 x≤T.sub.s≤1245+50 Log.sub.10(6/t.sub.s)−580 x.

The present application discloses a positive electrode active material including a lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide, the molar content of nickel in the lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide accounts for 60%-90% of the total molar content of nickel, cobalt and manganese, and the lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide has a layered crystal structure of a space group R 3m; a transition metal layer of the lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide includes a doping element, and the local mass concentration of the doping element in particles of the positive electrode active material has a relative deviation of 20% or less; and in a differential scanning calorimetry spectrum of the positive electrode active material in a 78% delithiation state, an initial exothermic temperature of a main exothermic peak is 200° C. or more, and an integral area of the main exothermic peak is 100 J/g or less.

A positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes LiX, where X represents a halogen atom.

A positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries comprises a lithium transition metal composite oxide that has secondary particles each formed from aggregated primary particles and a surface modification layer that is formed on the surface of each of the primary particles of the lithium transition metal composite oxide, in which the lithium transition metal composite oxide contains at least Al and Ni in an amount of 80 mol % or more relative to the total number of moles of metal elements excluding Li, the surface modification layer contains W and at least one of Sr and Ca, and the content of W in the surface modification layer is 0.075 mol % or less relative to the total number of moles of the metal elements excluding Li in the lithium transition metal composite oxide.

The cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery according to embodiments of the present invention includes lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles including a plurality of primary particles, and the lithium-transition metal composite oxide particles have a lithium-potassium-containing portion formed between the primary particles. Thereby, it is possible to improve life-span properties and capacity properties by preventing the layer structure deformation of the primary particles and removing residual lithium.

The present disclosure relates to methodologies, systems and apparatus for generating lithium ion battery materials. Starting materials are combined to form a homogeneous precursor solution including lithium, and a droplet maker is used to generate droplets of the precursor solution having controlled size. These droplets are introduced into a microwave generated plasma, where micron or sub-micron scale lithium-containing particles are formed. These lithium-containing particles are collected and formed into a slurry to form lithium ion battery materials.

A composite cathode active material for a lithium battery, the composite cathode active material including: a lithium composite oxide; and a coating layer disposed on at least a portion of the lithium composite oxide and including a composite including ZrP.sub.2O.sub.7 and LiZr.sub.2(PO.sub.4).sub.3, wherein the composite including ZrP.sub.2O.sub.7 and LiZr.sub.2(PO.sub.4).sub.3 is a reaction product of an acid treated a zirconium precursor, a phosphorus precursor, and the lithium composite oxide.

A method of producing a positive electrode active material, the method includes: contacting first particles that contain a lithium transition metal composite oxide with a solution containing sodium ions to obtain second particles containing the lithium transition metal composite oxide and sodium element, wherein the lithium transition metal composite oxide has a layered structure and a composition ratio of a number of moles of nickel to a total number of moles of metals other than lithium in a range of from 0.7 to less than 1; mixing the second particles and a boron compound to obtain a mixture; and heat-treating the mixture at a temperature in a range of from 100° C. to 450° C.

Provided are electrochemically active particles suitable for use as an active material in a cathode of a lithium ion electrochemical cell that include: a plurality of crystallites including a first composition comprising lithium, nickel, and oxygen; and a grain boundary between adjacent crystallites of the plurality of crystallites and comprising a second composition comprising lithium, nickel, and oxygen; wherein the grain boundary has a higher electrochemical affinity for lithium than the crystallites. The higher electrochemical affinity for Li leads to increased Li retention in the grain boundaries during or at charge relative to the bulk crystallites and stabilizes the structure of the grain boundaries and crystallites for improved cycling stability with no appreciable loss in capacity.

The present invention belongs to the field of materials, and relates to an environment-friendly precursor, a cathode material for a lithium-ion battery, and preparation methods thereof. The method for preparing an environment-friendly precursor provided in the present invention includes: subjecting a metal and/or a metal oxide, an oxidant, water, and a complexing agent to a chemical corrosion crystallization reaction at an electrical conductivity equal to or greater than 200 uS/cm, a redox potential ORP value equal to or less than 100 my, and a complexing agent concentration of 3-50 g/L. The precursor prepared by using the method provided in the present invention has advantages that no waste water is produced during dissolution and crystallization, and that water is constantly consumed, so that the purpose of environmental friendliness can be achieved. Moreover, the first charge and discharge efficiency of a lithium-ion battery can be effectively improved by means of the precursor.