Nickel manganese composite hydroxide particles and manufacturing method thereof, cathode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and manufacturing method thereof, and a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

A manufacturing method for manufacturing a cathode active material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

• the cathode active material comprising:
• spherical secondary particles formed with aggregated primary particles of a lithium nickel manganese composite oxide, the lithium nickel manganese composite oxide expressed by the general formula:
• Li1+uNixMnyCozMtO2
• wherein
• −0.05≦u≦0.50,
• x+y+z+t=1,
• 0.3≦x≦0.7,
• 0.1≦y≦0.55,
• 0≦z≦0.4,
• 0≦t≦0.1, and
• M is an added element selected from one or more elements from among Mg, Ca, Al, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo and W;
• wherein the secondary particles comprise
• a layered hexagonal crystalline structure,
• an average particle size of 2 to 8 μm,
• a value of 0.60 or less of index [(d90−d10)/average particle size] indicating an extent of a particle size distribution,
• a specific surface area of 1 to 2 m2/g, and
• a hollow structure comprising a hollow section inside in a center section of the secondary particles and an outer shell section on the outside of the hollow section formed with the aggregated primary particles and the thickness of the outer shell section being 0.5 to 2.5 μm;
• the manufacturing method comprising:
• a mixing step of mixing a lithium compound into nickel manganese composite hydroxide particles,
• the nickel manganese composite hydroxide particles comprising:
• spherical secondary particles formed with aggregated primary particles of a nickel manganese composite hydroxide, the nickel manganese composite hydroxide expressed by the general formula:
• NixMnyCozMt(OH)2+a
• wherein
• x+y+z+t=1,
• 0.3≦x≦0.7, 0.1≦y≦0.55,
• 0≦z≦0.4,
• 0≦t≦0.1,
• 0≦a≦0.5, and
• M is an added element selected from one or more elements from among Mg, Ca, Al, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo and W;
• wherein nickel manganese composite hydroxide particles comprise
• an average particle size of 3 to 7 μm,
• a value of 0.55 or less of index [(d90−d10)/average particle size] indicating an extent of a particle size distribution, and
• a layered structure comprising a center section formed with fine primary particles, and an outer shell section on the outside of the center section formed with plate shaped or needle shaped primary particles that are larger than the fine primary particles, and the thickness of the outer shell section being 0.3 to 3 μm;
• and
• a calcination step of performing calcination of a mixture of the lithium compound and the nickel manganese composite hydroxide particles formed in the mixing step in an oxygen atmosphere at a temperature of 800° C. to 980° C.