Specification
TECHNICAL FIELD
[1] Cross-Reference to Related Application
[2] This application claims priority 5 to and the benefit of Korean Patent
Application No. 10-2020-0060532, filed on May 20, 2020, the disclosure of
which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[3] Technical Field
[4] The present invention relates to a secondary battery, and more particularly, to
10 a secondary battery having improved capacity characteristics, lifetime
characteristics, and fast-charging characteristics.
BACKGROUND ART
[5] With the recent rapid spread of electronic devices using a battery, such as
mobile phones, notebook computers, and electric vehicles, the demand for
15 small, lightweight, and relatively high-capacity secondary batteries is rapidly
increasing. In particular, lithium secondary batteries have attracted attention
as driving power sources for portable devices due to their light weight and
high energy density. Accordingly, there have been active research and
development efforts to improve the performance of lithium secondary
20 batteries.
[6] The lithium secondary batteries generally include a positive electrode, a
negative electrode, a separator interposed between the positive electrode and
the negative electrode, an electrolyte, an organic solvent, and the like. In
addition, in the positive electrode and the negative electrode, an active
25 material layer including a positive electrode active material or a negative
2
electrode active material may be formed on a current collector. In general, a
lithium-containing metal oxide such as LiCoO2 or LiMn2O4 is used as a
positive electrode active material in the positive electrode, and accordingly, a
carbon-based active material or a silicon-based active material, which does
not contain lithium, is used as a negative 5 electrode active material in the
negative electrode.
[7] Among negative electrode active materials, silicon-based active materials are
attracting attention because they have about 10 times higher capacity than
carbon-based active materials and have excellent fast-charging characteristics.
10 However, silicon-based active materials have the problem of volume
expansion due to charging and discharging and degradation of lifetime
characteristics caused thereby, and when a large amount of binder is used to
suppress the problem, it is difficult to realize a desired high-capacity electrode.
Therefore, silicon-based active materials are not widely used at present.
15 [8] Meanwhile, carbon-based active materials such as artificial graphite and
natural graphite exhibit relatively stable lifetime performance compared to
silicon-based active materials, but when a carbon-based active material is
applied with a large thickness to manufacture a high-capacity electrode,
problems such as electrode cracking, warpage, delamination, and the like may
20 occur.
[9] In order to overcome the disadvantages of the carbon-based active materials
and silicon-based active materials, techniques of manufacturing an electrode
including a combination of a carbon-based active material and a silicon-based
active material have been developed. However, since the influence of
25 volume expansion of the silicon-based active material should be reduced, the
3
proportion of the silicon-based active material used in the negative electrode
cannot be increased to a desirable level, so it is difficult to improve the
capacity characteristics and fast-charging characteristics of a negative
electrode. In addition, when the proportion of the silicon-based active
material is increased, the usage amount 5 of binder should also be increased to
suppress the volume expansion of the active material, so it is difficult to realize
a high-capacity negative electrode.
[10] Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0794192 relates to a method of
manufacturing a carbon-coated silicon-graphite composite negative electrode
10 material for a lithium secondary battery and a method of manufacturing a
secondary battery including the same, but these methods have limitations in
solving the above-described problems.
[11] [Related-Art Document]
[12] [Patent Document]
15 [13] Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0794192
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL PROBLEM
[14] The present invention is directed to providing a secondary battery having
improved capacity characteristics, lifetime characteristics, and fast-charging
20 characteristics.
TECHNICAL SOLUTION
[15] One aspect of the present invention provides a secondary battery, which
includes: one or more positive electrodes including a positive electrode active
material layer; a plurality of negative electrodes including a first negative
25 electrode including a silicon-based active material and a second negative
4
electrode including a carbon-based active material; a separator; and an
electrolyte, wherein the positive electrode and the negative electrode are
alternately stacked with the separators interposed therebetween, and a weight
ratio of the silicon-based active material included in the first negative
electrode to the carbon-based active 5 material included in the second negative
electrode is in a range of 40:60 to 90:10.
ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS
[16] A secondary battery of the present invention includes a first negative electrode
including a silicon-based active material and a second negative electrode
10 including a carbon-based active material, and a weight ratio of the siliconbased
active material included in the first negative electrode to the carbonbased
active material included in the second negative electrode is adjusted to
be a specific ratio. According to the secondary battery of the present
invention, since separate negative electrodes having different types of active
15 materials having different characteristics are used, binders and conductive
materials suitable for the characteristics of each of the active materials can be
used in a desired amount, advantages of each of the silicon-based active
material and the carbon-based active material can be maximized, and a
secondary battery having excellent capacity and lifetime characteristics can be
20 realized.
[17] In addition, in the secondary battery of the present invention, a weight ratio of
the silicon-based active material included in the first negative electrode to the
carbon-based active material included in the second negative electrode is
adjusted to be a specific weight ratio. Accordingly, since the charging
25 potential of the silicon-based active material can be lowered to an appropriate
5
level, the stress level of the silicon-based active material due to a sudden
voltage change during charging and discharging can be reduced, and fastcharging
characteristics can be improved.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[18] FIG. 1 is an image for schematically illustrating 5 a secondary battery of the
present invention.
MODES OF THE INVENTION
[19] Terms and words used in this specification and the claims should not be
interpreted as being limited to commonly used meanings or meanings in
10 dictionaries, and, based on the principle that the inventors can appropriately
define concepts of terms in order to describe their invention in the best way,
the terms and words should be interpreted with meanings and concepts which
are consistent with the technical spirit of the present invention.
[20] The terms used in the present specification have been used only for the
15 purpose of describing exemplary embodiments and are not intended to limit
the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
[21] It will be understood that terms such as "comprises," "comprising," "includes,"
"including," "has," or "having," when used in the present specification, specify
20 the presence of stated features, numbers, steps, components, or combinations
thereof and do not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one
or more other features, numbers, steps, components, or combinations thereof.
[22] In the present specification, an average particle diameter (D50) is defined as a
particle diameter corresponding to the 50% cumulative volume in a particle
25 diameter distribution curve. The average particle diameter (D50) may be
6
measured using, for example, a laser diffraction method. The laser
diffraction method generally allows for the measurement of a particle diameter
ranging from a submicron level to several millimeters and can produce a result
having high reproducibility and high resolution.
[23] Hereinafter, a secondary battery of the 5 present invention will be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawing. In describing the present
invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known
configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the
detailed description may be omitted.
10 [24]
[25] The present invention relates to a secondary battery 1, and more particularly,
to a lithium secondary battery.
[26] As shown in FIG. 1, the secondary battery 1 of the present invention includes:
one or more positive electrodes 100 including a positive electrode active
15 material layer 120; a plurality of negative electrodes 200, 300 including a first
negative electrode 200 including a silicon-based active material and a second
negative electrode 300 including a carbon-based active material; a separator
400; and an electrolyte (not shown), wherein the positive electrodes 100 and
the negative electrodes 200, 300 are alternately stacked with the separators
20 400 interposed therebetween, and a weight ratio of the silicon-based active
material included in the first negative electrode 200 to the carbon-based active
material included in the second negative electrode 300 is in a range of 40:60
to 90:10.
[27] Conventionally, silicon-based active materials have the advantageous of
25 having high-capacity and fast-charging characteristics, but since the degree of
7
volume expansion/contraction due to charging and discharging is large, rapid
degradation of lifetime characteristics is an issue. Meanwhile, although a
negative electrode including a combination of a silicon-based active material
and a carbon-based active material has been developed, since the proportion
of silicon-based active material used in a 5 negative electrode should be lowered
to control the volume expansion of the silicon-based active material, it is
difficult to realize the high-capacity and fast-charging characteristics of the
silicon-based active material.
[28] In order to solve the problems, in the secondary battery of the present
10 invention, a weight ratio of the silicon-based active material included in the
first negative electrode 200 to the carbon-based active material included in the
second negative electrode 300 is adjusted to be within the above-described
range. In the secondary battery of the present invention, since the siliconbased
active material in the first negative electrode 200 and the carbon-based
15 active material in the second negative electrode 300 are used in the abovedescribed
weight ratio, the charging potential of the silicon-based active
material can be lowered to a desirable level by the carbon-based active
material, and therefore, the degree of volume expansion/contraction of the
silicon-based active material during charging and discharging can be reduced,
20 and the high-capacity and fast-charging characteristics of the silicon-based
active material can be sufficiently exhibited.
[29] In addition, the secondary battery of the present invention includes the first
negative electrode 200 and the second negative electrode 300, which include
the silicon-based active material and the carbon-based active material,
25 respectively. Specifically, since the secondary battery of the present
8
invention includes different types of negative electrodes including different
active materials, negative electrode components can be included in
compositions suitable for each negative electrode, and even when the
proportion of the silicon-based active material used in the secondary battery
is increased, the high-capacity characteristics and 5 fast-charging characteristics
of the silicon-based active material can be sufficiently exhibited without
degradation of lifetime characteristics.
[30] The secondary battery of the present invention 1 includes one or more positive
electrodes 100. The positive electrode 100 includes a positive electrode
10 active material layer 120.
[31] Specifically, the positive electrode 100 may include a positive electrode
current collector 110, and a positive electrode active material layer 120 formed
on one or more surfaces of the positive electrode current collector 110.
[32] The positive electrode current collector 110 is not particularly limited as long
15 as it does not cause a chemical change in a battery and has high conductivity.
Specifically, the positive electrode current collector 110 may include one or
more selected from the group consisting of copper, stainless steel, aluminum,
nickel, titanium, calcined carbon, and an aluminum-cadmium alloy.
[33] The positive electrode current collector 110 may typically have a thickness of
20 3 μm to 500 μm.
[34] The positive electrode current collector 110 may have fine irregularities
formed in a surface thereof to increase the adhesion of a positive electrode
active material. For example, the positive electrode current collector 110
may be used in any of various forms such as a film, a sheet, a foil, a net, a
25 porous material, a foam, and a non-woven fabric.
9
[35] The positive electrode active material layer 120 is formed on one or more
surfaces of the positive electrode current collector 110. Specifically, the
positive electrode active material layer 120 may be formed on one or both
surfaces of the positive electrode current collector 110.
[36] The positive electrode active material 5 layer 120 may include a positive
electrode active material.
[37] The positive electrode active material may include a compound enabling the
reversible intercalation and deintercalation of lithium and, specifically, may
include a lithium-transition metal composite oxide including lithium and one
10 or more selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and
aluminum and preferably a lithium-transition metal composite oxide including
lithium and a transition metal selected from the group consisting of nickel,
cobalt, and manganese.
[38] More specifically, the lithium-transition metal composite oxide may be, for
15 example, a lithium-manganese-based oxide (e.g., LiMnO2, LiMn2O4), a
lithium-cobalt-based oxide (e.g., LiCoO2), a lithium-nickel-based oxide (e.g.,
LiNiO2), a lithium-nickel-manganese-based oxide (e.g., LiNi1-YMnYO2 (here,
0
Documents
Application Documents
| # |
Name |
Date |
| 1 |
202217055407.pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 2 |
202217055407-TRANSLATIOIN OF PRIOIRTY DOCUMENTS ETC. [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 3 |
202217055407-STATEMENT OF UNDERTAKING (FORM 3) [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 4 |
202217055407-PRIORITY DOCUMENTS [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 5 |
202217055407-POWER OF AUTHORITY [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 6 |
202217055407-FORM 1 [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 7 |
202217055407-DRAWINGS [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 8 |
202217055407-DECLARATION OF INVENTORSHIP (FORM 5) [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 9 |
202217055407-COMPLETE SPECIFICATION [27-09-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-09-27 |
| 10 |
202217055407-Proof of Right [12-10-2022(online)].pdf |
2022-10-12 |
| 11 |
202217055407-FORM 3 [06-03-2023(online)].pdf |
2023-03-06 |
| 12 |
202217055407-FORM 18 [30-11-2023(online)].pdf |
2023-11-30 |
| 13 |
202217055407-FER.pdf |
2025-08-18 |
| 14 |
202217055407-FORM 3 [17-10-2025(online)].pdf |
2025-10-17 |
Search Strategy
| 1 |
202217055407_SearchStrategyNew_E_SearchHistory-(139)E_08-08-2025.pdf |