Sumitomo Metal Mining Company, Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Hideo Sasaoka

Satoshi Matsumoto

Katsuya Kase

Yutaka Kawatate

Tomomichi Nihei

Kensuke Nakura

Shuji Tsutsumi

Shin Imaizumi

Ryuichi Kuzuo

Shinji Arimoto

Minoru Shiraoka

Tomoko Iwanaga

Kazuaki Okato

Atsushi Fukui

Takashi Takeuchi

Akihiro Taniguchi

Yasutaka Kamata

Takahiro Sakamoto

Hiroshi Matsuno

Shinichi Yasuda

Ryuuichi Kuzuo

Mitsukuni Kondou

Takuya Yamauchi

A method for manufacturing a positive electrode active material includes: (a) preparing a fired powder of a lithium nickel composite oxide by mixing a nickel compound selected from a nickel hydroxide including nickel, and an element selected from other transition metal elements, elements of the second group and elements of the thirteenth group of the Periodic System, a nickel oxyhydroxide thereof, and a nickel oxide obtained by roasting thereof, and a lithium compound, and firing the mixture at a maximum temperature of 650&#xb0; C. to 850&#xb0; C. under oxygen atmosphere; and (b) preparing a lithium nickel composite oxide powder by mixing the fired powder with water to obtain a slurry, washing the fired powder with water at a temperature of 10&#xb0; C. to 40&#xb0; C., while controlling an electrical conductivity of a liquid portion of the slurry to 30 mS/cm to 60 mS/cm, then filtering and drying the resultant fired powder.

Positive electrode active material manufacturing method with control of washing slurry liquid electrical conductivity

A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has improved dispersibility in a paste to inhibit agglomeration and can be densely packed in a three-dimensional metal porous body in the preparation of a positive electrode for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide particles and a coating layer made of a cobalt compound and formed on a surface of the nickel hydroxide particles, wherein when 10 mL of water is added to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder to prepare a suspension, a total amount of eluted ions except for oxonium ions, hydroxide ions, and carbonate ions in the suspension is 6.5 mmol/L or less. The coated nickel hydroxide powder obtained through a crystallization step, a coating step, and a washing step is dried in a drying step in a decarbonated atmosphere whose partial pressure of a carbon-containing gas is 15 Pa or less.

Coated nickel hydroxide powder for alkali secondary battery positive electrode active material and method of producing same

A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has improved dispersibility in a paste to inhibit agglomeration and can be densely packed in a three-dimensional metal porous body in the preparation of a positive electrode for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide particles having a coating layer made of a cobalt compound formed on a surface of the nickel hydroxide particles, wherein when 10 mL of water is added to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder to prepare a suspension, the suspension has a pH of 10.2 or higher (as measured at 25&#xb0; C.). The coated nickel hydroxide powder obtained through a crystallization step and a coating step is washed in a washing step until an amount of ammonium ions eluted into a suspension obtained by adding 10 mL of water to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder becomes 0.35 mmol/L or less.

A positive electrode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that is constituted by a lithium nickel composite oxide that combines a high capacity with excellent thermal stability, a manufacturing method suitable for industrial production, and a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery of high safety. A positive electrode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery includes a lithium nickel composite oxide represented by the following composition formula (1):LiNiM1O&#x2003;&#x2003;(1)(where M1 represents at least one element selected from transition metal elements other than Ni, elements of the second group of the Periodic System and elements of the thirteenth group of the Periodic System; a satisfies the condition 0.01&#x2264;a&#x2264;0.5; and b satisfies the condition 0.85&#x2264;b&#x2264;1.05). The content of carbon in the lithium nickel composite oxide is equal to or less than 0.08% by mass.

Positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, manufacturing method of same, and nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery using same

An objective of the present invention is to provide a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery positive electrode active material formed from a lithium-nickel composite oxide which, while retaining high capacity and a high level of safety, has an excellent cycle characteristic by controlling reaction resistance and a method for producing it. [Solution] A lithium-nickel composite oxide is produced by steps (a) to (c) described below: (a) nickel hydroxide and/or nickel oxyhydroxide in a prescribed composition are sintered in a non-reducing atmosphere having 850&#xb0; C. or lower to give nickel oxide; (b) after the nickel oxide and a lithium compound are mixed in a prescribed molar ratio, the mixture is sintered in an oxygen atmosphere at a temperature of 650 to 850&#xb0; C.; and (c) after an obtained powder is made to be in a prescribed slurry concentration, it is washed with water during a period of time which satisfies the following formula:/40&#x3c;/10wherein A is a time for washing with water presented as a unit of a minute, B is a slurry concentration of the obtained powder presented as a unit of g/L, filtered and dried.

Nickel composite hydroxide particle and process for producing the same, positive electrode active material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and process for producing the same, and non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

A method for producing coated nickel hydroxide powder for a positive electrode of an alkaline secondary battery wherein the pH of a suspension of a nickel hydroxide powder is kept at 8 to 11.5, and an aqueous cobalt salt solution and an aqueous alkali solution are supplied to the suspension to coat the surface of nickel hydroxide particles with cobalt hydroxide. Then, the pH of a slurry of the cobalt hydroxide-coated nickel hydroxide powder is adjusted to 12.5 to 13.0, and oxygen is supplied to the slurry so that the total amount of oxygen supplied per mole of cobalt in the coating is 30 l/mol or more to oxidize the cobalt hydroxide.

Coated nickel hydroxide powder for positive electrode active material for alkaline secondary battery, and production method therefor

A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has a cobalt compound coating having improved uniformity and adhesion properties on the surface of particles thereof and is therefore suitable for a positive electrode active material of an alkaline secondary battery is obtained by coating the surface of nickel hydroxide particles with a cobalt compound, and has a transmittance ratio of 30% or higher as determined by (A&#x2212;B)/(B&#x2212;B). The transmittance A (coated nickel hydroxide powder), the transmittance B(nickel hydroxide powder), or the transmittance B(nickel hydroxide powder and cobalt compound containing cobalt in an amount corresponding to the amount of cobalt contained in the coating) can be determined by measuring the transmittance of a tubular transparent cell after shaking the tightly-closed transparent cell containing each powder for a certain time and then taking the contents out of the transparent cell.

Coated nickel hydroxide powder for positive electrode active material of alkaline secondary battery, and evaluation method for coating adhesion properties of coated nickel hydroxide powder

The present invention provides a cathode active material that makes possible a high capacity nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that has excellent discharge load characteristics that provide both good cycle characteristics and thermal stability. The cathode active material comprises a lithium nickel composite oxide having the compositional formula LiNiMO(where, M is at least one kind of element that is selected from among a transitional metal other than Ni, a group 2 element, and group 13 element, and 0.01&#x2266;a&#x2266;0.5) to which fine lithium manganese composite oxide particle adhere to the surface thereof. This lithium nickel composite oxide is obtained by adding manganese salt solution to a lithium nickel composite oxide slurry, causing manganese hydroxide that contains lithium to adhere to the surface of the lithium nickel composite oxide particles, and then baking that lithium nickel composite oxide.

Cathode active material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery and manufacturing method thereof, and a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery that uses cathode active material

The present invention provides nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide and a method for manufacturing same, the nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide as a precursor allowing a positive electrode active material having excellent battery characteristics and a high-density to be manufactured. The nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide is represented by a general formula: NiCoMnM(OH)(wherein 0&#x3c;x&#x2266;1/3, 0&#x3c;y&#x2266;1/3, 0&#x2266;z&#x2266;0.1, and M is at least one element selected from Mg, Al, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, and W) and serves as a precursor of a positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries; wherein the specific surface area measured by a nitrogen adsorption BET method is 1.0 to 10.0 m/g, the carbon content measured by a high frequency combustion infrared absorption method is not more than 0.1% by mass, and the half-value width of a plane in X-ray diffraction is not more than 1.5&#xb0;.

Nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide and method for manufacturing same

A lithium-containing composite oxide represented by the formula 1: LiNiCoAlMMOis used as a positive electrode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery. The element Mis at least one selected from the group consisting of Mn, Ti, Y, Nb, Mo, and W. The element Mincludes at least two selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba, and the element Mincludes at least Mg and Ca. The formula 1 satisfies 0.97&#x2266;x&#x2266;1.1, 0.05&#x2266;y&#x2266;0.35, 0.005&#x2266;z&#x2266;0.1, 0.0001&#x2266;v&#x2266;0.05, and 0.0001&#x2266;w&#x2266;0.05. The primary particles have a mean particle size of 0.1 &#x3bc;m or more and 3 &#x3bc;m or less, and the secondary particles have a mean particle size of 8 &#x3bc;m or more and 20 &#x3bc;m or less.

Growing community of inventors

Ehime, Japan

Hideo Sasaoka