Specification
WO 2005/013395 PCT/KR2004/001897
LITHIUM ION BATTERY HAVING AN IMPROVED CONSERVED PROPERTY AT
A HIGH TEMPERATURE
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a cathode for a battery
comprising a cathode additive for improving storage
properties at a high temperature, and a lithium ion battery
comprising the same.
Background Art
In general, a lithium ion battery is used at a high drive
voltage (0 to 5V) . Therefore, when a lithium ion battery is
exposed under a high temperature (40°C) for a long time after
being charged completely, self-discharge may occur due to a
high voltage difference between a cathode and an anode.
Additionally, a cathode has reactivity to a non-aqueous
electrolyte so that decomposition may be generated and thus
the capacity of a battery may decrease and the impedance of a
battery may rapidly increase. This has been one of the most
serious problems of lithium ion batteries.
To solve this, many attempts have been made to decrease the
reactivity of an electrode to an electrolyte by adding a
small amount of additives to an anode, an electrolyte or a
cathode, or by appling a coating layer formed of inorganic
materials or organic materials on the powder surface of a
cathode or an anode. Additionally, Japanese Patent Laid-Open
No. 98-255839 discloses that alkaline earth metal hydroxides
are partially incorporated into a cathode active material to
prevent reduction of battery capacity after storage at a high
temperature.
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WO 2005/013395 PCT/KR2004/001897
However, there is no description with regard to the
incorporation of any other metal hydroxides except for
alkaline earth metal hydroxides in a cathode active material,
for the purpose of improving storage properties of a battery
at a high temperature.
Further, although metal hydroxides are good additives for
improving storage properties of a battery at a high
temperature, metal hydroxides are nonconductors by nature.
Accordingly, if metal hydroxides are added to cathode active
materials in an excessive amount, they may decrease battery
capacity and degrade storage properties of a battery at a
high temperature. Additionally, because metal hydroxides are
not capable of lithium ion intercalation/ deintercalation,
increase of the amount of metal hydroxides added to a cathode
of a battery results in decrease of the amount of a cathode
active material that may be incorporated into the cathode,
thereby causing decrease of battery capacity. Therefore, in
order to minimize decrease of battery capacity, it is
necessary to minimise the amount of metal hydroxides added to
a cathode of a battery. However, it has remained undiscovered
heretofore that the specific surface area of a metal
hydroxide added to a cathode of a battery is related with
storage properties of a battery at a high temperature, and
that a small amount of metal hydroxide may be used to improve
storage properties of a battery at a high temperature, based
on such relationship.
Disclosure of the Invention
This inventors have found that storage properties of a
battery at a high temperature can be improved by adding a
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WO 2005/011395 PCT/KR2004/001897
metal hydroxide to the cathode of a battery as a cathode
additive, and such improvement is related with the specific
surface area of powder of metal hydroxides. In other words,
when a metal hydroxide having a large specific surface area
is added to a cathode of a battery as a cathode additive,
storage properties of a battery at a high temperature can be
improved even if the metal hydroxide is used in a relatively
small amount. As a result, decrease of battery capacity due
to the addition of metal hydroxides can be minimized.
Therefore, the present invention has been made based on this
finding, and it is an object of the present invention to
provide a cathode for a battery comprising a metal hydroxide
having a large specific surface area as a cathode additive,
and a lithium ion battery comprising the same.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a cathode for a battery comprising a metal hydroxide
having a large specific surface area as a cathode additive.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a lithium ion battery comprising a cathode, an
anode and a non-aqueous electrolyte, wherein the cathode
comprises a metal hydroxide having a large specific surface
area as a cathode additive.
Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in
detail.
As described above, this inventors have found that use of a
metal hydroxide as a cathode additive improves storage
properties of a battery at a high temperature, and the larger
the specific surface area of powder of a metal hydroxide is,
the better such improvement becomes. It is considered that
this results from the effect of the surface of a metal
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WO 2005/013395 PCT/KR2004/001897
hydroxide on other substances in a battery such as an
electrolyte. It seems that the aforesaid effect may prevent
the generation of substances increasing battery resistance
such as LiF, HF, etc. According to this mechanism, the effect
provided by the present invention is in proportion to the
surface area of a metal hydroxide as a cathode additive. This
is supported by the following Examples and Comparative
Examples.
Therefore, according to the invention., by using a metal
hydroxide having a large specific surface area as a cathode
additive, it is possible to obtain excellent storage
properties of a battery at a high temperature, namely to
minimize decrease of battery capacity and to prevent increase
of battery impedance, even if the metal hydroxide is added in
a relatively small amount. As a result, a problem occurring
in the prior art can be minimized; the problem being that
increase of amount of a metal hydroxide added to a cathode
may decrease battery capacity.
According to the present invention, the specific surface area
of a metal hydroxide is 1 m2/g or more, preferably 2.5 m2/g or
more, and more preferably 7 m2/g or more. As described above,
the larger the specific surface area of a metal hydroxide ■
used as a cathode additive is, the better the resultant
effect is. Meanwhile, although it is preferable that the
specific surface area of a metal hydroxide is as large as
possible, the specific surface area may be limited by
conditions of battery manufactured, methods for preparing
metal hydroxides, etc. Considering the conditions under which
cathode slurry is coated on an electrode collector to form a
cathode, the specific surface area of the metal hydroxide is
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WO 2005/013395 PCT/KR2004/001897
preferably 100 m2/g or less.
Examples of metal hydroxides that may be used in the present
invention include A1(OH)3, Mg(0H)2, Ca(OH)2r LiOH, NaOH, etc.
In addition, the metal hydroxides are preferably used in an
amount of greater than 0 wt% and not more than 10 wt%.
Although such metal hydroxides can improve the storage
properties of a battery at a high temperature even if they
are added in a very small amount, adding them to a cathode in
an amount of greater than 10 wt% may increase resistance due
to the nature of metal hydroxides as a nonconductor, thereby
decreasing battery capacity and deteriorating storage
properties of a battery at a high temperature. Further, when
such metal hydroxides are added to a cathode in an amount of
greater than 10 wt%, the amount of a cathode active material
capable of lithium ion intercalation/ deintercalation is
decreased accordingly, and thus battery capacity is reduced.
This is clearly shown in the results of the following
Examples 1 to 5 and Comparative Example 1.
The cathode according to the present invention can be
prepared by introducing cathode materials including a cathode
active material and a metal hydroxide having a large specific
surface area into a solvent, mixing them to prepare cathode
slurry, coating the slurry on a cathode collector, and drying
the solvent.
According to the present invention, lithium-containing
transition metal compounds may be used as a cathode active
material. Non-limitative examples of the lithium-containing
transition metal compounds include LiCo02, IiiNiO2, LiMn2O4,
LiMnO2, LiCoP04, LiNi1-xCoxMY02 (wherein M = Al, Ti, Mg or Zr,
0
Documents
Application Documents
| # |
Name |
Date |
| 1 |
02279-kolnp-2005-abstract.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 1 |
abstract-02279-kolnp-2005.jpg |
2011-10-07 |
| 2 |
02279-kolnp-2005-claims.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 2 |
02279-kolnp-2005-international publication.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 3 |
02279-kolnp-2005-description complete.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 3 |
02279-kolnp-2005-form 5.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 4 |
02279-kolnp-2005-drawings.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 4 |
02279-kolnp-2005-form 3.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 5 |
02279-kolnp-2005-form 1.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 6 |
02279-kolnp-2005-drawings.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 6 |
02279-kolnp-2005-form 3.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 7 |
02279-kolnp-2005-description complete.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 7 |
02279-kolnp-2005-form 5.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 8 |
02279-kolnp-2005-claims.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 8 |
02279-kolnp-2005-international publication.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 9 |
02279-kolnp-2005-abstract.pdf |
2011-10-07 |
| 9 |
abstract-02279-kolnp-2005.jpg |
2011-10-07 |