Various lithium cobalt oxides materials doped with one or more metal dopants having a chemical formula of Li.sub.xCo.sub.yO.sub.z (doped Me1.sub.a Me2.sub.b Me3.sub.c . . . MeN.sub.n), and method and apparatus of producing the various lithium cobalt oxides materials are provided. The method includes adjusting a molar ratio M.sub.LiSalt:M.sub.CoSalt:M.sub.Me1Salt:M.sub.Me2Salt:M.sub.Me3Salt:. . . M.sub.MeNSalt of a lithium-containing salt, a cobalt-containing salt and one or more metal-dopant-containing salts within a liquid mixture to be equivalent to a ratio of x:y:a:b:c: . . . n , drying a mist of the liquid mixture in the presence of a gas to form a gas-solid mixture, separating the gas-solid mixture into one or more solid particles of an oxide material, and annealing the solid particles of the oxide material in the presence of another gas flow to obtain crystalized particles of the lithium cobalt oxide material. The process system has a mist generator, a drying chamber, one or more gas-solid separator, and one or more reactors.

The cathode material of the invention has a porous structure, wherein the pore volume of mesoporous with pore diameter of 2-20 nm accounts for 90% or more of the total pore volume. As compared with conventional lithium-ion battery cathode material, the lithium-ion battery cathode material of the present invention contains mainly mesopores, and the pore size of mesopores is mostly in the range of 2-20 nm.

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.

The present invention relates to a cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery, and more particularly, to a cathode active material for a lithium secondary battery, which includes a core portion and a shell portion surrounding the core portion, in which a total content of cobalt in the core portion and the shell portion is 5 to 12 mol %, and the content of cobalt in the core portion and the shell portion is adjusted to be within a predetermined range. In the cathode active material precursor and the cathode active material for a secondary battery prepared using the same according to the present invention, optimal capacity of a lithium secondary battery may be increased by adjusting the cobalt content in the particles of the cathode active material, and life characteristics may be enhanced by improving stability.

Provided is a cathode active material for a lithium ion secondary battery in which the secondary particles constituting the powder have a high breaking strength and a good coatability, and a method for manufacturing same. The cathode active material for a lithium ion secondary battery includes a primary particle of a lithium composite compound; and secondary particles formed by an aggregation of primary particles, wherein a ratio between an average particle size of the primary particles and an average particle size of the secondary particles is 0.006 or more and 0.25 or less, an amount of lithium carbonate is 0.4% by mass or less, and a breaking strength of the secondary particles is 30 MPa or more.

A positive electrode active material of the present invention comprising a composite oxide containing Li and Ni, and optionally containing at least one element other than Li and Ni, is characterized in one of the following: primary particles constituting each of secondary particles of the composite oxide and having a variation coefficient of span of 17% or less, the span being a formula: (D.sub.190−D.sub.110)/D.sub.150 (D.sub.110, D.sub.150, D.sub.190: particle diameter corresponding to 10%, 50%, 90% of an integrated value in a number standard-particle diameter distribution of primary particle size); the primary particles having a variation coefficient of D.sub.150 of 19% or less; and the secondary particles having each of values of 1.00% or less, the values being formulae: |[ER1−ER21)/ER1]|×100, |[ER1−ER22)/ER1]|×100, |[ER1−ER23)/ER1]|×100 (ER1, ER21, ER22, ER23: element ratio (Li/(Ni+Other element(s))) of entire secondary particles, small particles, middle particles, large particles).

A positive electrode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery which includes a secondary particle of a lithium transition metal oxide, the secondary particle being formed by coagulation of primary particles of the lithium transition metal oxide; secondary particles of a rare earth compound, the secondary particles each being formed by coagulation of primary particles of the rare earth compound; and particles of an alkali-metal fluoride. The secondary particles of the rare earth compound are each deposited on a groove between a pair of adjacent primary particles which is formed in a surface of the secondary particle of the lithium transition metal oxide so as to come into contact with both of the pair of adjacent primary particles in the groove. The particles of the alkali-metal fluoride are deposited on the surface of the secondary particle of the lithium transition metal oxide.

A battery is composed of a positive electrode in which a positive electrode active material layer including a positive electrode active material is formed on a positive electrode collector, a negative electrode in which a negative electrode active material layer including a negative electrode active material is formed on a negative electrode collector, a separator provided between the positive electrode and the negative electrode, and an electrolyte impregnated in the separator. The battery further includes at least one of a heteropoly acid and a heteropoly acid compound as an additive at least in one of the positive electrode, the negative electrode, the separator, and the electrolyte.

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.

Provided is a positive active material, a method of preparing the same, and a lithium secondary battery including the positive active material, wherein the positive active material includes a plurality of first particles, an aggregate of a plurality of first particles, or a combination thereof, wherein the first particles have a crystal structure of an α-NaFeO.sub.2 type, and include a lithium transition metal oxide including at least one of Ni, Co, Mn and Al, a part of transition metal sites in a crystal lattice of the crystal structure are substituted with a doping element M, and a part of oxygen sites in the crystal lattice are substituted with sulfur (S), M includes Mg, Ti, Zr, W, Si, Ca, B, V, or a combination thereof, 1,000 ppm to 4,000 ppm of M is included in the lithium transition metal oxide, and 1,000 ppm or less of S is included in the lithium transition metal oxide.