Lithium Metal Composite Oxide Powder

A lithium metal composite oxide powder, comprising a particle having a surface portion where one or a combination of two or more (referred to as “surface element A”) of the group consisting of Al, Ti and Zr is present, on a surface of a particle comprising a lithium metal composite oxide having a layered crystal structure,

• wherein an amount of surface LiOH measured by the following measuring method is smaller than 0.10% by weight, and an amount of surface Li2CO3 measured by the following measuring method is smaller than 0.25% by weight;
• in an X-ray diffraction pattern obtained by X-ray diffraction using CuKα radiation, a ratio of an integral intensity of the (003) plane of the lithium metal composite oxide to that of the (104) plane thereof is higher than 1.15;
• and
• an amount of S obtained by a measurement using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectrometer is smaller than 0.10% by weight of the lithium metal composite oxide powder (100% by weight),
• wherein the amount of surface LiOH and the amount of surface Li2CO3 are measured by a titration that is carried out according to the following procedure by reference to a Winkler method, wherein 10.0 g of a sample is dispersed in 50 ml of ion-exchanged water, immersed therein for 15 min, and thereafter filtered;
• and the filtrate is titrated with hydrochloric acid;
• and at this time, by using phenolphthalein and bromophenol blue as indicators, the amount of the surface LiOH and the amount of the surface Li2CO3 are calculated based on the discoloration of the filtrate and an amount of titration at this time.