Cathode active material having spinel structure

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cathode active material comprising: (a) first crystal particles, wherein the first crystal particles have a spinel structure and are of the formula LixNiyMn3-x-y-zDzO4, wherein 0.95≤x≤1.05; and 0.45≤y≤0.50, and 0≤z≤0.20, and wherein D is a dopant selected from B, N, F, Mg, Al, Nb, Si, P, La, S, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Zr, Mo, Sn, W and mixtures thereof, and the first crystal particles have a particle size of no greater than 3 μm measured as the arithmetic mean value of the minimum Feret diameter of the particles measured using scanning electron microscopy, (b) second crystal particles, wherein the second crystal particles comprise material having a spinel structure and which is of the formula Lix′Niy′Mn3-x′-y′-z′D′z′O4, wherein: 0.95≤x′≤1.05; 0.43≤y′<0.47, and 0≤z′≤0.20, and wherein D′ is a dopant selected from B, N, F, Mg, Al, Nb, Si, P, La, S, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Zr, Mo, Sn, W and mixtures thereof, and the second crystal particles have an average particle size of at least 3 times that of the average particle size of the first crystal particles, measured as the arithmetic mean value of the minimum Feret diameter of the particles measured using scanning electron microscopy.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.