Alkaline secondary battery manufacturing method, alkaline secondary battery positive electrode, alkaline secondary battery, and a method of manufacturing an initially charged alkaline secondary battery

A method of manufacturing an alkaline secondary battery comprising a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound, a negative electrode and an alkaline electrolyte,

• said method comprising the step of performing initial charging which comprises a charging process of supplying a current I (mA) satisfying the following Inequality (1), and a process of lowering a temperature after a charged electricity quantity Q (mAh) reaches a range of Inequality (3) below:
• 50<(T.times.C.sup.2)/(T.times.S)<2000 (1)
• 0.1<Q/C<3 (3)
• where C is an electrochemical capacity (mAh) of said cobalt compound contained in said positive electrode, which is calculated on the basis of an electrochemical equivalent of said cobalt compound, T is a temperature (.degree.C.) at which said charging process is performed, and S is an area (cm.sup.2) of said positive electrode.

A method of manufacturing an alkaline secondary battery comprising a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound, a negative electrode and an alkaline electrolyte,

• said method comprising the step of performing initial charging which comprises a charging process of supplying a current I (mA) satisfying the following Inequality (1), and a process of increasing the current after a charged electricity quantity Q (mAh) reaches a range of Inequality (3) below:
• 50<(T.times.C.sup.2)/(I.times.S)<2000 (1)
• 0.1<Q/C<3 (3)
• where C is an electrochemical capacity (mAh) of said cobalt compound contained in said positive electrode, which is calculated on the basis of an electrochemical equivalent of said cobalt compound, T is a temperature (.degree.C.) at which said charging process is performed, and S is an area (cm.sup.2) of said positive electrode.

A method of manufacturing an alkaline secondary battery comprising a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound, a negative electrode and an alkaline electrolyte,

• said method comprising the step of performing initial charging which comprises a charging process of supplying a current I (mA) satisfying the following Inequality (1), and a process of lowering a temperature and increasing the current after a charged electricity quantity Q (mAh) reaches a range of Inequality (3) below:
• 50<(T.times.C.sup.2)/(I.times.S)<2000 (1)
• 0.1<Q/C<3 (3)
• where C is an electrochemical capacity (mAh) of said cobalt compound contained in said positive electrode, which is calculated on the basis of an electrochemical equivalent of said cobalt compound, T is a temperature (.degree.C.) at which said charging process is performed, and S is an area (cm.sup.2) of said positive electrode.

An alkaline secondary battery comprising:

• a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound;
• a negative electrode;
• and
• an alkaline electrolyte,
• wherein assuming that said cobalt compound is cobalt oxyhydroxide and an electrochemical capacity of said cobalt oxyhydroxide calculated on the basis of an electrochemical equivalent of said cobalt oxyhydroxide is C (mAh), when said positive electrode is discharged with a current value of C/100 (mA), said positive electrode has a discharge capacity of C/20 (mAh) or more while a positive electrode potential decreases from 200 mV to -200 mV with respect to a mercury/mercuric oxide reference electrode.

An alkaline secondary battery comprising:

• a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound;
• a negative electrode;
• and
• an alkaline electrolyte,
• wherein assuming that said cobalt compound is cobalt oxyhydroxide, when said battery is discharged at 45.degree. C. by causing a short using a 2-.OMEGA. resistance, said battery has a quantity of electricity which flows while a voltage decreases from 100 mV to 20 mV and which is not less than 20% of an electrochemical capacity of said cobalt oxyhydroxide calculated on the basis of an electrochemical equivalent of said cobalt oxyhydroxide.

An alkaline secondary battery comprising:

• a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound;
• a negative electrode;
• and
• an alkaline electrolyte,
• wherein said battery has a recovery voltage which rises from 10 mV to 30 mV within one hour or less after said battery has been discharged at 45.degree. C. by causing a short using a 2-.OMEGA. resistance for 48 hours and rendered not short-circuited at 25.degree. C.

A method of manufacturing an initially charged alkaline secondary battery, comprising the steps of:

• preparing an alkaline secondary battery comprising a positive electrode containing a nickel compound and a cobalt compound, a negative electrode and an alkaline electrolyte,
• performing initial charging of said battery at a high temperature of 40.degree. to 120.degree. C.;
• and
• performing heat exchange between said initially charged battery and a battery to be initially charged, thereby cooling said initially charged battery and heating said battery to be initially charged.