阅读说明：本技术 正极和包括所述正极的二次电池 (Positive electrode and secondary battery comprising same ) 是由 柳正宇 金叡隣 金泰坤 于 2019-02-01 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种正极和包括该正极的二次电池,所述正极包括集电器和设置在所述集电器上的正极活性材料层,其中所述正极活性材料层包括正极活性材料、粘合剂和多壁碳纳米管,其中所述多壁碳纳米管的平均长度为1μm至2μm,并且长度标准偏差为0.5μm或更小。(The present invention relates to a positive electrode including a current collector and a positive electrode active material layer disposed on the current collector, wherein the positive electrode active material layer includes a positive electrode active material, a binder, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes have an average length of 1 μm to 2 μm and a standard deviation of the length of 0.5 μm or less, and a secondary battery including the same.)

1. A positive electrode, comprising:

a current collector; and

a positive electrode active material layer disposed on the current collector,

wherein the positive electrode active material layer comprises a positive electrode active material, a binder and multi-walled carbon nanotubes,

wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes have an average length of 1 μm to 2 μm and a standard deviation of the length of 0.5 μm or less.

2. The positive electrode according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes have a length of 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm.

3. The positive electrode according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are included in an amount of 0.1 to 1 wt% with respect to the total weight of the positive electrode active material layer.

4. The positive electrode according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are included in an amount of 0.2 to 0.7 wt% relative to the total weight of the positive electrode active material layer.

5. The positive electrode according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein the positive electrode active material is included in an amount of 96 wt% to 99 wt% with respect to the total weight of the positive electrode active material layer.

6. The positive electrode according to claim 1, wherein,

wherein the loading amount of the positive electrode active material layer is 15-40mg/cm²。

7. A secondary battery comprising:

the positive electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 6;

a negative electrode;

a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and

an electrolyte.

Technical Field

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application claims the benefit of korean patent application No. 10-2018-0015313, filed by the korean intellectual property office at 7.2.2018, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Background

In recent years, with the development and demand of technologies for mobile devices, the demand for batteries as an energy source has been rapidly increased, and thus, various studies on batteries have been made to meet various demands. In particular, research is actively being conducted on lithium secondary batteries having high energy density and excellent life and cycle characteristics as power sources for these devices.

The lithium secondary battery refers to a battery including an electrode assembly therein, the electrode assembly including: a positive electrode including a positive electrode active material capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions; an anode including an anode active material capable of intercalating/deintercalating lithium ions; a microporous separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and a non-aqueous electrolyte containing lithium ions.

The positive and/or negative electrodes may include a conductive material to improve electrical conductivity. Conventionally, a dot type conductive material such as carbon black is mainly used, but when the content of the conductive material is increased to improve conductivity, the amount of a positive electrode active material or a negative electrode active material is relatively reduced, and thus, it is difficult to achieve a high energy density of a battery. Therefore, there is a demand for satisfying required output and required durability of a battery even with only a small amount of conductive material. In particular, in the case of a positive electrode, the positive electrode active material itself has a certain degree of low conductivity, and thus the above-mentioned problems are very serious.

In order to solve this problem, a method of using a nano-scale conductive material such as carbon nanotube or carbon nanofiber having a large specific surface area and capable of making a large number of conductive contacts in a small amount has been introduced. However, such a nano-sized conductive material is difficult to be smoothly dispersed in the positive electrode slurry, and thus, it is difficult to obtain desired conductivity unless the content of the conductive material in the positive electrode active material layer exceeds a suitable level, for example, 1 wt%.

Therefore, it is required to develop a positive electrode capable of securing conductivity even when a small amount of a conductive material is used and improving output and life characteristics of a battery by improving dispersibility of the conductive material.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

An aspect of the present invention provides a positive electrode capable of securing conductivity thereof even when the content of a conductive material is greatly reduced to improve life characteristics of a battery, and capable of increasing the content of a positive electrode active material to improve output characteristics of a battery, and a secondary battery including the same.

Technical scheme

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a positive electrode including: a current collector and a positive electrode active material layer disposed on the current collector, wherein the positive electrode active material layer includes a positive electrode active material, a binder, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes have an average length of 1 μm to 2 μm and a standard deviation of the length of 0.5 μm or less.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a secondary battery including: the positive electrode; a negative electrode; a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and an electrolyte.

Advantageous effects

According to the invention, multi-walled carbon nanotubes are used as the electrically conductive material and have a suitable average length and a suitable standard deviation of the length. Therefore, the positive electrode active material can be smoothly electrically connected through the multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the manufactured positive electrode, and at the same time, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes can be uniformly dispersed in the conductive material dispersion liquid and the positive electrode slurry, thereby improving the life characteristics of the battery. In addition, since the dispersibility of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes is improved, the conductivity of the positive electrode can be secured even with a small amount of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes, thereby relatively increasing the content of the positive electrode active material, and thus, the output characteristics of the manufactured secondary battery can be improved.

Drawings

The following drawings attached to the specification illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention by way of example, and serve to further understand the technical concept of the invention together with the detailed description of the invention given below, and therefore the invention should not be construed as being limited to the contents in the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a graph showing the length of a multi-walled carbon nanotube contained in a positive electrode used in example 1 of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a graph showing the length of multi-walled carbon nanotubes contained in a positive electrode used in example 2 of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a graph showing the length of a multi-walled carbon nanotube included in a positive electrode used in comparative example 1 of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a graph showing the length of a multiwalled carbon nanotube contained in a positive electrode used in comparative example 2 of the present invention; and

fig. 5 is a graph showing the increase in discharge capacity and resistance of the batteries with cycles for the batteries of examples 1 and 2 and comparative examples 1 and 2.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail to allow the present invention to be more clearly understood. In this case, it will be understood that the words or terms used in the specification and claims should not be construed as meanings defined in common dictionaries, and it will be further understood that the words or terms should be construed as having meanings consistent with the technical idea of the present invention and the meanings of the related art based on the principle that the inventor can appropriately define the meanings of the words or terms to best explain the present invention.

< Positive electrode >

According to one aspect of the present invention, a positive electrode includes a current collector and a positive electrode active material layer disposed on the current collector, wherein the positive electrode active material layer includes a positive electrode active material, a binder, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, wherein the multi-walled carbon nanotubes have an average length of 1 μm to 2 μm and a standard deviation of the length of 0.5 μm or less.

The current collector is not particularly limited as long as it has conductivity without causing any chemical change in the battery. For example, copper, stainless steel, aluminum, nickel, titanium, sintered carbon, or aluminum or stainless steel whose surface is surface-treated with carbon, nickel, titanium, silver, or the like may be used for the current collector. Specifically, transition metals such as copper and nickel, which absorb carbon well, may be used as the current collector.

The positive electrode active material layer may be disposed on one side or both sides of the current collector. The positive active material layer may include a positive active material, a binder, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

The positive electrode active material may be the same as the positive electrode active material included in the positive electrode slurry of the embodiment. Specifically, the positive electrode active material may be a conventionally used positive electrode active material. Specifically, the positive electrode active material may be: such as lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO)₂) Or lithium nickel oxide (LiNiO)₂) The layered compound formed, or the compound substituted with one or more transition metals; from the formula Li_1+y1Mn_2-y1O₄Lithium manganese oxide and LiMnO represented by (0. ltoreq. y 1. ltoreq.0.33)₃、LiMn₂O₃Or LiMnO₂(ii) a Lithium copper oxide (Li)₂CuO₂) (ii) a Vanadium oxides, such as LiV₃O₈、V₂O₅Or Cu₂V₂O₇(ii) a From compounds such as LiNi_1-y2M1_y2O₂(wherein M1 is Co, Mn, Al, Cu, Fe, Mg, B or Ga and 0.01. ltoreq. y 2. ltoreq.0.3); from the formula LiMn_2-y3M2_y3O₂(wherein M2 is Co, Ni, Fe, Cr, Zn or Ta and 0.01. ltoreq. y 3. ltoreq.0.1) or Li₂Mn₃M3O₈(wherein M3 is Fe, Co, Ni, Cu orZn) or a lithium manganese complex oxide; or LiMn₂O₄Wherein a part of Li in the formula is substituted with an alkaline earth metal ion; the embodiments are not limited thereto. Specifically, the positive electrode active material may be Li [ Ni ]_0.6Mn_0.2Co_0.2]O₂。

The positive electrode active material may be included in an amount of 96% by mass to 99% by weight, specifically 97% by weight to 98.5% by weight, relative to the total weight of the positive electrode active material layer. When the above range is satisfied, the contents of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and the binder are not excessively reduced, and at the same time, the output of the battery can be improved, thereby maintaining the life characteristics of the battery.

The binder may be the same as the binder included in the positive electrode slurry of the embodiment. Specifically, the binder may include at least any one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (PVDF-co-HFP), polyvinylidene fluoride (polyvinylidene fluoride), polyacrylonitrile (polyacrylonitrile), polymethyl methacrylate (polymethyl methacrylate), and materials in which their hydrogen atoms are substituted by Li, Na, Ca, or the like, or may include various copolymers thereof. For example, the binder may be polyvinylidene fluoride having functional groups such as carboxyl groups or ether groups.

A multi-walled carbon nanotube may refer to a carbon nanotube having two or more graphene layers disposed parallel to an axis of the carbon nanotube, that is, may refer to a carbon nanotube having two or more walls (walls). In the present invention, carbon nanotubes having appropriate lengths and standard deviations of lengths can be formed during the dispersion process of the conductive material dispersion.

The average length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes may be 1 μm to 2 μm, specifically 1.1 μm to 1.4 μm, and more specifically from 1.1 μm to 1.2 μm. When the average length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes is less than 1 μm, there may be a plurality of multi-walled carbon nanotubes having an excessively short length, and as a result, the electrical connection between the positive electrode active materials is not smooth, thereby deteriorating the output of the battery. Meanwhile, when the average length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes exceeds 2 μm, there may be a plurality of multi-walled carbon nanotubes having an excessively long length, and as a result, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes may be easily entangled in the conductive dispersion and the positive electrode paste. Therefore, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are not uniformly dispersed in the positive electrode active material layer, thereby deteriorating the electrical conductivity of the positive electrode active material layer, and thus deteriorating the output and life characteristics of the battery.

On the other hand, "the average length exceeds 2 μm" means that the length of the multi-walled carbon nanotube is not sufficiently shortened, which may be due to the lack of a process for controlling the particle size distribution (e.g., a milling process). Therefore, when the average length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes exceeds 2 μm, the standard deviation of the length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes is not large, and particularly, has to exceed 0.5 μm.

The standard deviation of the length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes may be 0.5 μm or less, specifically 0.3 μm to 0.5 μm. When the standard deviation of the lengths of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes exceeds 0.5 μm, the difference in length between the multi-walled carbon nanotubes may be large, and as a result, the electrical conductivity in the positive electrode active material layer is not uniform, thereby deteriorating the output and life characteristics of the battery. Also, during the preparation of the conductive material dispersion, since a particle size improvement process (e.g., a milling process) of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes is not sufficient, a standard deviation may be excessively large, and thus, the dispersibility of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the conductive material dispersion and the positive electrode active material layer may be deteriorated, thereby further deteriorating the output and life characteristics of the battery. In addition, when the standard deviation is excessively large, the viscosities of the conductive material dispersion liquid and the cathode slurry may excessively increase, and thus, it is difficult to smoothly apply the cathode slurry during the formation of the cathode active material layer, thereby further deteriorating the output and life characteristics of the battery.

The length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes may be 0.5 μm to 3.0 μm, in particular 0.7 μm to 2.5 μm. In the present specification, length does not refer to the average length, but to the respective lengths of the observed multi-walled carbon nanotubes. When the above range is satisfied, the dispersion of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the conductive material dispersion liquid and the cathode slurry may be uniform while maintaining the electrical connection between the cathode active materials at a suitable level. Even in the case where a small amount of multi-walled carbon nanotubes having a length of more than 3.0 μm are contained in the positive electrode active material layer, aggregation occurs between the multi-walled carbon nanotubes due to the long multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and thus it is difficult to uniformly disperse the multi-walled carbon nanotubes, thereby deteriorating the output and life characteristics of the battery. In addition, when long multi-walled carbon nanotubes are present, aggregation occurs and the viscosity of the conductive material dispersion increases, and thus, workability is deteriorated during the preparation of the positive electrode active material layer, and the dispersibility of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes may be further reduced due to the deteriorated workability.

With respect to the multi-walled carbon nanotubes contained in the positive electrode active material layer, the average length, standard deviation of length, and length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes can be measured by the following methods. First, a certain amount of the positive electrode active material layer was diluted with NMP solution several tens times its weight, and then materials constituting the positive electrode active material layer were respectively separated by ultrasonic waves. Thereafter, a part of the upper layer of the solution was extracted and diluted again with an NMP solution weighing several tens times the extraction amount. Thereafter, the respective lengths of a plurality of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (e.g., 30 or 25 multi-walled carbon nanotubes) were observed by a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and then their mean values and standard deviations were calculated and the mean lengths, the length standard deviations, and the lengths of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes were derived.

The multi-walled carbon nanotube may be included in an amount of 0.1 to 1 wt%, specifically may be included in an amount of 0.2 to 0.9 wt%, and more specifically may be included in an amount of 0.2 to 0.7 wt%, with respect to the total weight of the positive electrode active material layer. When the above range is satisfied, the conductivity of the positive electrode active material layer may be ensured.

When multi-walled carbon nanotubes are included in an amount of 1 wt% or less, particularly 0.7 wt% or less, it is difficult to achieve only with carbon nanotubes having general properties. Specifically, when the content of the relatively general-purpose carbon nanotube is reduced to a level of 1% by weight or less to increase the content of the positive electrode active material, the electrical connection between the positive electrode active materials cannot be smoothly performed, and thus, there is no choice but to inevitably greatly deteriorate the output characteristics of the secondary battery. In addition, the carbon nanotubes cannot smoothly support the positive electrode active material, and as a result, the positive electrode active material is easily separated from the positive electrode active material layer, or the structure of the positive electrode active material layer is easily gradually collapsed, thereby deteriorating the mechanical stability of the positive electrode. Therefore, the cycle characteristics of the manufactured secondary battery inevitably deteriorate.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the positive electrode active material layer includes multi-walled carbon nanotubes having suitable physical properties such as average length and standard deviation of length in a uniformly dispersed state, and thus, even when the content of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes is 1 wt% or less, electrical connection between the positive electrode active materials can be maintained and mechanical stability of the positive electrode active material layer can be ensured, thereby improving output and life characteristics of the battery. In addition, since the content of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes is maintained at a low level of 1 wt% or less, the positive electrode active material layer may include a relatively greater amount of the positive electrode active material, thereby further improving the output of the fabricated battery.

The loading amount of the positive electrode active material layer may be 15-40mg/cm²Specifically 20-30mg/cm². When the above range is satisfied, the thickness of the positive electrode is not excessively increased while the energy density of the positive electrode is ensured, and a problem of workability does not occur during application of the positive electrode slurry.

< method for producing Positive electrode >

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a positive electrode includes: a step of preparing a conductive material dispersion liquid; a step of forming a positive electrode slurry containing a conductive material dispersion liquid, a positive electrode active material, a binder, and a solvent; a step of applying a positive electrode slurry on a current collector and drying it, wherein the conductive material dispersion liquid contains multi-walled carbon nanotubes, a dispersant and a dispersion medium, and the multi-walled carbon nanotubes have an average length of 1 μm to 2 μm and a standard deviation of length of 0.5 μm or less.

The step of preparing the conductive material dispersion may include: mixing bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotubes, a dispersant and a dispersion medium to form a mixture; and controlling the particle size distribution of the bundled multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

The dispersant may be at least one selected from the group consisting of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (H-NBR), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC).

The dispersion medium may be at least one of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and water.

In the bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotube, the bundle type refers to a secondary shape of a bundle (bundle) shape or a rope (rope) shape in which axes in the longitudinal direction of a plurality of carbon nanotube units are arranged in parallel in substantially the same direction or are entangled in substantially the same direction. The bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotube has a shape in which carbon nanotube portions are aggregated and has various very different lengths, and therefore, when the bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotube is directly used as a conductive material without controlling the shape and length thereof, it is difficult for the carbon nanotube to be uniformly dispersed in a positive electrode active material layer and for a conductive path therein to be secured. Therefore, a step of controlling the particle size distribution (i.e., the shape and length of the bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotubes) is required after mixing the bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the dispersant, and the dispersion medium.

In particular, since carbon nanotubes having a length of 5 μm to 50 μm are randomly aggregated, the bundle-type multi-walled carbon nanotubes immediately after the synthesis have a particle shape having an overall size of several tens of μm. For ease of handling such as transportation, storage and feeding, pellets are typically prepared using bundled multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Therefore, a milling process is required, which decomposes the pellets to separate the bundle-type carbon nanotubes from each other and make the length uniform, to be used as a conductive material in the positive electrode.

The control of the particle size distribution may be performed by methods such as milling or sonication, preferably by milling. Milling can be carried out by means of a ball mill (ball mill), pin mill (spike mill), bead mill (bead mill), basket mill (basket mill) or disc mill (attrition mill), in particular by means of a pin mill.

Milling of the pin mill can be carried out in the following manner. The mixture including the bundle-type carbon nanotubes, the dispersant and the dispersion medium was injected into a bead-filled pin mill while the pin mill was operated. During operation, the rotor inside the machine rotates, and the rotational force provides kinetic energy to the beads, and thus, the bundle-type carbon nanotubes are dispersed in the mixture. The mixture is then discharged through the outlet at a specific discharge rate. This step may be performed under specific conditions to form the multiwalled carbon nanotubes included in the positive electrode of the present invention. In particular, the size of the beads, the filling amount of the beads, the discharge rate of the mixture, and the number of grinding are main conditions, and the conductive material dispersion used in the present invention can be formed by an appropriate combination thereof. In other words, it is required to appropriately satisfy the combination of the above conditions and the range of the above conditions.

The size of the beads may be 0.5mm to 2mm, specifically 0.6mm to 1mm, and more specifically 0.6mm to 0.75 mm. When the size of the beads exceeds 2mm, the shearing force generated by the beads is insufficient, and thus, the dispersion and the particle size distribution of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes cannot reach a desired level. Further, when the size of the beads is less than 0.5mm, the beads are discharged to the outlet together with the mixture, and therefore, there are problems in that the dispersibility of the pin mill cannot be maintained constant and a separation process of separating the beads from the discharged product is required.

The loading of the beads may be 50% to 90%, and specifically 65% to 80%. When the loading of the beads exceeds 90%, the pressure inside the pin mill is greatly increased, thereby continuously using the pin mill. When the loading of the beads is less than 50%, it is difficult to form a suitable kinetic energy required for dispersion.

The discharge rate of the mixture may be 1kg/min to 5kg/min, and specifically 2kg/min to 4 kg/min.

The number of milling times refers to the number of times the mixture is injected into the container. The number of milling may be 2 to 3.

The viscosity of the conductive material dispersion may be 10,000cps to 30,000cps, and specifically 15,000cps to 25,000cps at 30-50 ℃. When the above range is satisfied, the conductive material dispersion liquid may be easily injected during the preparation of the cathode slurry. Further, satisfying the viscosity means that the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are smoothly dispersed and the particle size distribution satisfies a desired level.

In the step of forming the cathode slurry, the cathode slurry may include a conductive material dispersion liquid, a cathode active material, a binder, and a solvent.

The positive electrode active material, the binder, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes, and the current collector are the same as those included in the positive electrode of the embodiment, and thus the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the average length, the standard deviation of the length, and the length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes contained in the conductive material dispersion may be equally maintained in the positive electrode active material layer.

The solvent may be at least one selected from the group consisting of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), isopropyl alcohol (isoproylalcohol), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (PVDF-co-HFP) solution, polyvinylidene fluoride (polyvinylidenefluoride) solution, acetone (acetone), and water. The solvent may be, for example, NMP.

The solid content of the cathode slurry may be 60 to 80 wt%, and specifically 65 to 75 wt%, with respect to the total weight of the cathode slurry. When the above range is satisfied, there is an advantage in that the cathode slurry can be easily dried while maintaining the viscosity enough to apply the cathode slurry to the current collector, and the preferred viscosity of the cathode slurry may be 5,000cps to 25,000 cps.

Since the positive electrode active material layer is prepared by drying the positive electrode slurry and removing the solvent, the respective contents of the positive electrode active material, the binder, and the multi-walled carbon nanotubes contained in the solid content with respect to the total solid weight of the positive electrode slurry are equal to values with respect to the total weight of the positive electrode active material layer contained in the positive electrode of the embodiment.

In the step of applying the cathode slurry on the current collector and drying the cathode slurry, the coating and drying of the current collector coated with the cathode slurry may be performed at a rate of 4m/min to 80m/min at a temperature of 100-180 ℃. A rolling process may also be performed to control the thickness of the dried positive electrode, and an additional drying process may be performed to remove residual moisture of the rolled positive electrode.

< Secondary Battery >

According to another aspect of the present invention, a secondary battery includes: a positive electrode; a negative electrode; a separator interposed between the positive electrode and the negative electrode; and an electrolyte. Hereinafter, the positive electrode is the same as that of the embodiment, and thus, description thereof will be omitted.

The anode may include an anode current collector and an anode active material layer disposed on one or both sides of the anode current collector.

The anode current collector is not particularly limited as long as it has conductivity without causing any chemical change in the battery. For example, the anode current collector may use copper, stainless steel, aluminum, nickel, titanium, sintered carbon, or aluminum or stainless steel whose surface is surface-treated with carbon, nickel, titanium, silver, or the like. Specifically, transition metals such as copper and nickel, which absorb carbon well, may be used as the anode current collector.

The negative electrode active material layer may include a negative electrode active material, a negative electrode conductive material, and a negative electrode binder.

The negative active material may be graphite-based active material particles or silicon-based active material particles. The graphite-based active material particles may use at least one selected from the group consisting of artificial graphite, natural graphite, graphitized carbon fibers, and graphitized mesocarbon microbeads, and particularly, when artificial graphite is used, rate characteristics may be improved. Silicon-based active material particles selected from the group consisting of Si and SiO_x(0 < x < 2), a Si-C composite material, and a Si-Y alloy (wherein Y is an element selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, group 13 elements, group 14 elements, rare earth elements, and combinations thereof), and particularly, when Si is used, a high capacity battery can be obtained.

The negative electrode binder may include at least one selected from the group consisting of polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer (PVDF-co-HFP), polyvinylidene fluoride (polyvinylidene fluoride), polyacrylonitrile (polyacrylonitrile), polymethyl methacrylate (polymethyl methacrylate), polyvinyl alcohol, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), starch, hydroxypropyl cellulose, regenerated cellulose, polyvinylpyrrolidone, tetrafluoroethylene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyacrylic acid, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM), sulfonated EPDM, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), fluororubber, polyacrylic acid (polyacrylic acid), and a material in which hydrogen is substituted by Li, Na, or Ca, etc., and may further include various copolymers thereof.

The anode conductive material is not particularly limited as long as it has conductivity without causing any chemical change in the battery, and the anode conductive material may be used, for example: graphite, such as natural graphite and artificial graphite; carbon black such as carbon black, acetylene black, ketjen black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black; conductive fibers such as carbon fibers and metal fibers; conductive tubes such as carbon nanotubes; metal powders such as carbon fluoride powder, aluminum powder, and nickel powder; conductive whiskers such as zinc oxide and potassium titanate; conductive metal oxides such as titanium oxide; or a conductive material such as a polyphenylene derivative; and so on.

The separator is used to separate the anode and the cathode from each other and provide a transport path for lithium ions, any separator may be used without particular limitation as long as it is generally used in a secondary battery, and in particular, a separator having excellent electrolyte retentivity while having low resistance to transfer of electrolyte ions may be preferably used for the separator. Specifically, a porous polymer film such as one formed of a polyolefin-based polymer (e.g., an ethylene homopolymer, a propylene homopolymer, an ethylene/butene copolymer, an ethylene/hexene copolymer, an ethylene/methacrylate copolymer, etc.) may be used, or such a polymer having a laminated structure of two or more layers may be used. In addition, a conventional porous nonwoven fabric, for example, a nonwoven fabric formed of glass fibers or polyethylene terephthalate fibers having a high melting point may be used. Alternatively, a coated separator including a ceramic component or a polymer material may be used to secure heat resistance or mechanical strength, and a single-layer structure or a multi-layer structure may be selectively used.

Examples of the electrolyte may include an organic-based liquid electrolyte, an inorganic-based liquid electrolyte, a solid polymer electrolyte, a gel-type polymer electrolyte, a solid inorganic electrolyte, and a melt-type inorganic electrolyte, which may be used in the manufacture of a lithium secondary battery, but the embodiment is not limited thereto.

Specifically, the electrolyte may include a non-aqueous organic solvent and a metal salt.

As the non-aqueous organic solvent, for example, aprotic organic solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, butylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate, γ -butyrolactone, 1, 2-dimethoxyethane, tetrahydrofuran (franc), 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, dimethylsulfoxide, 1, 3-dioxolane, formamide, dimethylformamide, dioxolane, acetonitrile, nitromethane, methyl formate, methyl acetate, phosphoric acid triester, trimethoxymethane, dioxolane derivatives, sulfolane, methylsulfolane, 1, 3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, propylene carbonate derivatives, tetrahydrofuran derivatives, ether, methyl propionate, ethyl propionate and the like can be used.

In particular, ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate as cyclic carbonates in carbonate-based organic solvents may be preferably used because carbonate-based organic solvents have high viscosity and high dielectric constant, so that lithium salts are easily dissociated, and when dimethyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate, which are linear carbonates having low viscosity and low dielectric constant, are added to cyclic carbonates in an appropriate ratio and mixed, an electrolyte having high conductivity may be prepared, and the electrolyte prepared in this manner may be more preferably used.

The metal salt may use a lithium salt that is easily soluble in the nonaqueous electrolyte, and the anion of the lithium salt may use, for example, one selected from the group consisting of: f^-、Cl^-、I^-、NO₃ ^-、N(CN)₂ ^-、BF₄ ^-、ClO₄ ^-、PF₆ ^-、(CF₃)₂PF₄ ^-、(CF₃)₃PF₃ ^-、(CF₃)₄PF₂ ^-、(CF₃)₅PF^-、(CF₃)₆P^-、CF₃SO₃ ^-、CF₃CF₂SO₃ ^-、(CF₃SO₂)₂N^-、CF₃CF₂(CF₃)₂CO^-、(CF₃SO₂)₂CH^-、(SF₅)₃C^-、(CF₃SO₂)₃C^-、CF₃(CF₂)₇SO₃ ^-、CF₃CO₂ ^-、CH₃CO₂ ^-、SCN^-And (CF)₃CF₂SO₂)₂N^-。

In addition to the electrolyte component, the electrolyte may further include one or more additives, for example, halogenated alkylene carbonate-based compounds (e.g., difluoroethylene carbonate), pyridine, triethyl phosphite, triethanolamine, cyclic ethers, ethylenediamine, N-glyme (glyme), hexaphosphoric triamide, nitrobenzene derivatives, sulfur, quinonimine dyes, N-substituted oxazolidinones, N-substituted imidazolidines, ethylene glycol dialkyl ethers, ammonium salts, pyrrole, 2-methoxyethanol, aluminum trichloride, or the like, in order to improve the life characteristics of the battery, suppress the capacity decrease of the battery, and increase the discharge capacity of the battery.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided: a battery module including the secondary battery as a unit cell; and a battery pack including the battery module. Since the battery module and the battery pack include secondary batteries having high capacity, enhanced rate performance, and high cycle characteristics, the battery module and the battery pack may be used as a power source for middle-or large-sized devices selected from the group consisting of electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and power storage systems.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail according to embodiments. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.