JP5798209B2 - Anode material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and lithium ion secondary battery - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that exhibits high initial charge / discharge efficiency, high capacity, and good cycle characteristics when used as a negative electrode active material for a lithium ion secondary battery, and a method for producing the same, and The present invention relates to a lithium ion secondary battery using a battery.

  In recent years, with the remarkable development of portable electronic devices, communication devices, etc., secondary batteries with high energy density are strongly demanded from the viewpoints of economy and downsizing and weight reduction of devices.

Conventionally, as a measure for increasing the capacity of this type of secondary battery, for example, a method using an oxide such as V, Si, B, Zr, Sn, or a composite oxide thereof as the negative electrode material (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Reference), a method of applying a melt-quenched metal oxide as a negative electrode material (for example, see Patent Document 3), a method of using silicon oxide as a negative electrode material (for example, see Patent Document 4), and Si ₂ N ₂ O as a negative electrode material And a method using Ge ₂ N ₂ O (see, for example, Patent Document 5) is known.

  Further, for the purpose of imparting conductivity to the negative electrode material, a method of carbonizing SiO after graphite and mechanical alloying (for example, see Patent Document 6), a method of coating a carbon layer on the surface of silicon particles by a chemical vapor deposition method (for example, And Patent Document 7), and a method of coating the surface of silicon oxide particles with a carbon layer by chemical vapor deposition (for example, see Patent Document 8).

  However, in the above conventional method, although the charge / discharge capacity is increased and the energy density is increased, the cycleability is insufficient, or the required characteristics of the market are still insufficient, and are not always satisfactory. However, further improvement in energy density has been desired.

  In particular, Patent Document 4 uses silicon oxide as a negative electrode material for a lithium ion secondary battery to obtain a high-capacity electrode. However, as far as the present inventors know, the irreversible capacity during the initial charge / discharge is still large. There is a problem that the cycle performance has not reached the practical level, and there is room for improvement.

Further, the technique of imparting conductivity to the negative electrode material also has a problem in Patent Document 6 that a uniform carbon film is not formed because of solid-solid fusion, and the conductivity is insufficient.
In the method of Patent Document 7, although a uniform carbon film can be formed, since Si is used as a negative electrode material, the expansion / contraction at the time of adsorption / desorption of lithium ions is too large. As a result, the battery cannot be put into practical use, and the cycle performance is degraded.
In the method of Patent Document 8, although improvement in cycle performance is confirmed, the number of cycles of charge / discharge is increased due to insufficient deposition of fine silicon crystals, integration of the carbon coating structure and the base material. As a result, there is a problem that the capacity gradually decreases and then rapidly decreases after a certain number of times, which is still insufficient for a secondary battery.

JP-A-5-174818 JP-A-6-60867 JP 10-294112 A Japanese Patent No. 2999741 JP-A-11-102705 JP 2000-243396 A JP 2000-215887 A JP 2002-42806 A

  The present invention provides a negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having high initial charge / discharge efficiency and excellent cycle characteristics while maintaining the advantages of a high battery capacity and a low volume expansion coefficient of a silicon-containing material, for example, a silicon oxide-based material. An object of the present invention is to provide a negative electrode material that is effective for use, a manufacturing method thereof, and a lithium ion secondary battery including such a negative electrode material.

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, at least a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary comprising a conductive powder in which the surface of a powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon is coated with a graphite film. A negative electrode material for a battery, wherein the conductive powder is obtained by randomly extracting 20 particles in the conductive powder and measuring a Raman spectrum of each particle to obtain a silicon peak I _Si that appears at 500 cm ^−1. the intensity ratio _I Si / _{I G} peak _{I G} of graphite appearing at 1580 cm ^-1 when measured, that the standard deviation sigma of _I Si / _{I G} of 20 particles obtained satisfies the relation of sigma ≦ 10 A negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is provided.

Thus, the peak _{I G} of graphite appearing twenty particles was randomly peak _{I Si} and 1580 cm ^-1 of silicon appears at 500 cm ^-1 by measuring the Raman spectra of each particle in the conductive powder the intensity ratio I _{Si /} I _G when measured, as long as the standard deviation sigma of I _{Si /} I _G of 20 particles obtained satisfies the relation of sigma ≦ 10, absorbs lithium ions containing silicon In addition, the surface of the powder made of a material that can be released is more uniformly coated with graphite than in the past, and is therefore deposited at a high capacity, which is superior in initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycle characteristics compared to the conventional method. This is a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery made of a material containing silicon having a low expansion coefficient.

Here, the powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon is silicon powder, particles having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, and a general formula SiO _x (0. Any one of silicon oxide powders represented by 5 ≦ x ≦ 1.6) or a mixture of two or more thereof is preferable.
Thus, either silicon powder, particles having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, silicon oxide powder represented by the general formula SiO _x (0.5 ≦ x ≦ 1.6), or If the mixture of two or more of these is a powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon, the initial charge / discharge efficiency is higher, the capacity is high, and the cycle performance is excellent. A negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery.

The present invention also provides a lithium ion secondary battery comprising at least a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a lithium ion conductive nonaqueous electrolyte, wherein the negative electrode includes a negative electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to the present invention. Provided is a lithium ion secondary battery characterized in that the material is used.
As described above, the negative electrode material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery of the present invention has good battery characteristics (initial efficiency and cycle characteristics) when used as a negative electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery. For this reason, the lithium ion secondary battery in which the negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery of the present invention is used has excellent battery characteristics, particularly initial efficiency and cycle durability.

Furthermore, in the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, wherein at least an organic gas and / or a powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon is used. In a steam atmosphere, graphite is chemically vapor-deposited in a temperature range of 1000 to 1400 ° C. to form a graphite film to form a conductive powder. After that, N particles in the conductive powder are randomly extracted to obtain each of the particles. by measuring the intensity ratio _I Si / _{I G} peak _{I G} of measuring the Raman spectrum appears at the peak _{I Si} and 1580 cm ^-1 of silicon appears at 500 cm ^-1 with graphite, the resulting N number of particles _{I Si} it / I standard deviation of _G sigma evaluates whether more than a predetermined value, to produce a negative electrode material for the nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery only said conductive powder said was less than a predetermined value is sent to the next step Features To provide a method of manufacturing a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery negative electrode material.

Thus, after coating the graphite coating, the particles of N conductive powder to randomly measures the Raman spectrum of each particle, the peak _{I Si} and 1580 cm ^-1 of silicon appears at 500 cm ^-1 appear intensity ratio of the peak I _G of the graphite by measuring the I _{Si /} I _G, by a standard deviation σ of the I _{Si /} I _G of the resulting N number of particles to assess whether less than a predetermined value, conductive It is possible to accurately and easily evaluate whether or not graphite is uniformly coated to such an extent that the initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycle characteristics can be significantly improved as compared with conventional negative electrode materials. Therefore, by producing a negative electrode material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery by such a method, a negative electrode material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery with improved yield and improved charge / discharge efficiency and cycle characteristics can be produced. .

Here, it is preferable that the N is 20 and the predetermined value is 10.
Thus, by setting N to 20 and the predetermined value to 10, it is possible to prevent a decrease in manufacturing yield without securing a long evaluation time and ensuring evaluation accuracy.

Here, in the step of forming the graphite film, the aeration of the organic gas and / or vapor is started from a temperature lower by 50 ° C. or more than the maximum temperature during chemical vapor deposition of the graphite to form the graphite film on the powder. It is preferable.
By forming the graphite film by such a method, it is possible to reliably and easily uniformly coat the graphite on the surface of the powder, and more reliably and easily obtain N particles of I _Si / I _{G obtained} . Particles having a standard deviation σ of a predetermined value or less can be produced, and improvement in production yield and improvement in battery characteristics can be achieved simultaneously.

Moreover, it is preferable to perform the formation process of the said graphite film under reduced pressure of 50 Pa-30000 Pa.
Thus, by performing the graphite film forming step under a reduced pressure of 50 Pa to 30000 Pa, the particles can be uniformly coated with graphite, and the yield can be improved. In addition, by using the conductive powder produced as a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, the conductivity of the battery can be remarkably improved, and the battery capacity can be further improved.

And it is preferable to make the said organic substance gas and / or steam atmosphere into the atmosphere containing 50 volume% or more of methane.
Thus, by making the organic substance gas and / or vapor atmosphere an atmosphere containing 50% by volume or more of methane, a high quality graphite film can be formed, and the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary having more excellent cycle characteristics. A negative electrode material for a battery can be produced.

Further, as a powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon, silicon powder, particles having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, a general formula SiO _x (0.5 It is preferable to use any one of silicon oxide powders represented by ≦ x ≦ 1.6) or a mixture of two or more thereof.
Thus, as a powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon, a silicon powder having a high capacity and a low volume expansion coefficient when charging and discharging are repeated Or a particle having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, a silicon oxide powder represented by the general formula SiO _x (0.5 ≦ x ≦ 1.6), or two of these By using the above mixture, a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having high initial charge / discharge efficiency, high capacity and excellent cycleability can be obtained.

  As described above, by using the negative electrode material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery obtained in the present invention, for example, as a negative electrode material for a lithium ion secondary battery, the initial charge / discharge efficiency is high, the capacity is high, and the cycle performance is high. Can be obtained. Further, the manufacturing method is not particularly complicated and simple, and can sufficiently withstand industrial scale production.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically.
As described above, while maintaining the advantages of a high silicon oxide-based battery capacity and a low volume expansion coefficient, the negative electrode material is effective as a negative electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery with high initial charge / discharge efficiency and excellent cycle characteristics. Development of the manufacturing method was awaited.

Here, a powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon, for example, silicon oxide is expressed as SiO _x (where x is an oxide film and is slightly larger than the theoretical value 1). However, analysis by X-ray diffraction has a structure in which nano-silicon of about several nm to several tens of nm is finely dispersed in silicon oxide.
For this reason, although the battery capacity is small compared to silicon, it is considered to be easy to use as a negative electrode active material because it is as high as 5-6 times per mass compared to carbon, and further, the volume expansion is small.

However, since silicon oxide is an insulator, it is necessary to provide conductivity by some means.
As a method for imparting this conductivity, there are a method of mixing with conductive particles such as graphite, a method of coating the surface of the composite particle with a graphite film, and a method of combining both.
For example, as a method of coating with a graphite film, a method of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of the composite particles in an organic gas and / or vapor is suitable, and by introducing the organic gas and / or vapor into the reactor during heat treatment. It is possible to carry out efficiently.

  Under these circumstances, the present inventors have conducted various studies to achieve the above object, and as a result, the battery characteristics can be remarkably improved by covering the surface of the material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions with a graphite film. I was able to confirm that it was seen. At the same time, however, it was found that mere graphite coating could not meet the required characteristics of the market.

Therefore, the present inventors have conducted detailed studies with the aim of further improving the characteristics. As a result, it has been found that the characteristic level required by the market can be reached by controlling the covering state of the graphite film covering the surface of the material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions within a specific range.
Specifically, it has been found that not only the amount of graphite coating but also the uniformity of the coating affects the conductivity.
For example, even if a sufficient amount of graphite is obtained, if the coating is non-uniform and the surface of the silicon oxide is partially exposed, that part becomes insulative and adversely affects charge / discharge capacity and cycle characteristics. .

As the index for evaluating the uniformity, taking the intensity ratio of the peak of the graphite crystals appearing near 1580 cm ^-1 in Raman spectroscopy _{(I G)} and the crystal peak of silicon appearing near 500cm ^-1 _{(I Si),} particles It is possible to evaluate with high accuracy by evaluating the variation of the numerical value due to, for example, the standard deviation σ.
The absolute value of the strength ratio varies depending on the graphite coating amount, the primary particle size of silicon oxide, and the degree of growth of silicon crystals depending on the temperature during CVD processing, but the variation in the strength ratio between particles depends on the uniformity. .

That is, as a result of battery characteristics evaluation after covering the surface of the silicon-containing material that can occlude and release lithium ions obtained under various conditions with a graphite film, it was confirmed that there were differences in characteristics depending on the coating state did it.
As a result of analyzing the obtained various materials, the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having good battery characteristics (initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycle characteristics) when the battery characteristics and the coating state of the graphite film are within a specific range. It has been found that negative electrode materials with good battery characteristics (initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycle characteristics) can be manufactured with high efficiency by evaluating in the manufacturing process that it is a negative electrode material for use and in a specific range. The present invention has been completed.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
The negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to the present invention is a non-aqueous material comprising a conductive powder in which at least the surface of a powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon is coated with a graphite film. It is a negative electrode material for electrolyte secondary batteries.
This conductive powder is composed of a silicon peak I _Si appearing at 500 cm ⁻¹ and a graphite peak appearing at 1580 cm ⁻¹ by randomly extracting 20 particles in the conductive powder and measuring the Raman spectrum of each particle. when measured the intensity ratio _I Si / _{I G} peak _{I G,} standard deviation sigma of _I Si / _{I G} of 20 particles obtained satisfy the relation of sigma ≦ 10.

Thus, the peak _{I G} of graphite appearing twenty particles was randomly peak _{I Si} and 1580 cm ^-1 of silicon appears at 500 cm ^-1 by measuring the Raman spectra of each particle in the conductive powder the intensity ratio I _{Si /} I _G when measured, the negative electrode material of the standard deviation sigma of I _{Si /} I _G of 20 particles obtained was made of a conductive powder that satisfies the relation of sigma ≦ 10, each The amount of the graphite coating on the particles is stable and the variation is very small. Therefore, if it is a negative electrode material made of conductive powder uniformly coated with such a graphite film, it should be a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that is excellent in initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycle characteristics as compared with conventional materials. Can do.

Here, the standard deviation sigma of I _{Si /} I _G of 20 particles, which can be determined that the graphite coating is uniform, it is preferable that at sigma ≦ 10 or less, more preferably 5 or less, more preferably 3 It is as follows.
If the standard deviation σ is greater than 10, the graphite film may be very thin or uncoated depending on the location on the particle surface, and the lithium ion occlusion and release may be inhibited, leading to a decrease in conductivity. There will be something. Therefore, the standard deviation σ is 10 or less.

Here, as a powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon, silicon powder, particles having a composite structure in which fine particles of silicon are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, a general formula SiO _x (0. 5 ≦ x ≦ 1.6), or a mixture of two or more of these.
If the powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon is made of such particles, the non-aqueous solution has higher initial charge / discharge efficiency, high capacity, and excellent cycleability. It can be set as the negative electrode material for electrolyte secondary batteries.

  Next, although the manufacturing method of the negative electrode material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries of this invention is demonstrated in detail, of course, it is not limited to this.

  First, a powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon is prepared.

Here, as a powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon, silicon powder, particles having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, a general formula SiO _x (0.5 Any of the silicon oxide powders represented by ≦ x ≦ 1.6) or a mixture of two or more thereof can be used.
Thus, as a powder made of a material capable of occluding and releasing lithium ions containing silicon, a silicon powder having a high capacity and a low volume expansion coefficient when charging and discharging are repeated Or a particle having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, a silicon oxide powder represented by the general formula SiO _x (0.5 ≦ x ≦ 1.6), or two of these By using the above mixture, a negative electrode material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery having higher initial charge / discharge efficiency, high capacity, and excellent cycleability can be obtained.

Particles having a structure in which silicon nanoparticles as one of the raw material powders are dispersed in silicon oxide include, for example, a method of firing a mixture of silicon fine particles with a silicon-based compound, or a general formula SiO _x The silicon oxide particles before disproportionation represented are heat-treated at a temperature of 400 ° C. or higher, preferably 800 to 1100 ° C. in an inert non-oxidizing atmosphere such as argon, to obtain a disproportionation reaction. be able to. In particular, the material obtained by the latter method is suitable because silicon crystallites are uniformly dispersed. By the disproportionation reaction as described above, the size of the silicon nanoparticles can be set to 1 to 100 nm.
Note that silicon dioxide in the particles having a structure in which silicon nanoparticles are dispersed in silicon oxide is preferably silicon dioxide. Note that it can be confirmed by transmission electron microscopy that silicon nanoparticles (crystals) are dispersed in amorphous silicon oxide.

The silicon oxide in the present invention is a general term for amorphous silicon oxide, and the silicon oxide before disproportionation is represented by the general formula SiO _x (0.5 ≦ x ≦ 1.6). . The silicon oxide can be obtained by cooling and precipitating silicon monoxide gas generated by heating a mixture of silicon dioxide and metal silicon.

The physical properties of the particles having a structure in which silicon oxide particles and silicon nanoparticles before disproportionation are dispersed in silicon oxide can be appropriately selected depending on the intended composite particles.
For example, the average particle size is desirably 0.1 to 50 μm, the lower limit is more desirably 0.2 μm or more, and further desirably 0.5 μm or more. The upper limit is more desirably 30 μm or less, and further desirably 20 μm or less.
In addition, the average particle diameter in this invention is represented by the weight average particle diameter in the particle size distribution measurement by a laser beam diffraction method.

Further, the BET specific surface area of the powder used, 0.5 to 100 ² / g is desirable, and more desirably about 1-20 m ² / g.
If the BET specific surface area is 0.5 m ² / g or more, there is no possibility that the adhesiveness when applied to the electrode is lowered and the battery characteristics are not lowered. Moreover, if it is 100 m < ² > / g or less, the ratio of the silicon dioxide on the particle | grain surface will become large, and when it uses as a lithium ion secondary battery negative electrode material, it can be set as the thing which does not have a possibility that battery capacity may fall.

  Then, graphite is chemically deposited on the previously prepared powder in a temperature range of 1000 to 1400 ° C. in an organic gas and / or steam atmosphere to form a graphite film to obtain a conductive powder.

Here, in the step of forming the graphite film, it is possible to form the graphite film on the powder by starting the aeration of organic gas and / or vapor from a temperature lower by 50 ° C. or more than the maximum temperature during chemical vapor deposition of graphite.
In this way, the ventilation of organic gas and / or vapor is started from a temperature lower than the maximum temperature during the chemical vapor deposition of graphite by 50 ° C. or more to form a graphite film on the powder, thereby uniformly covering the surface of the powder with graphite. it is possible, the particle standard deviation σ is less than or equal to a predetermined value of I _{Si /} I _G of the resulting N number of particles can be manufactured more reliably and easily, more efficiently high quality (battery characteristics A good negative electrode material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries can be efficiently produced.

Moreover, the formation process of this graphite film can be performed under reduced pressure of 50 Pa-30000 Pa.
Thus, by performing the process of forming a graphite film under a reduced pressure of 50 Pa to 30000 Pa, it is possible to coat graphite more uniformly and to improve battery characteristics.

The organic material used as a raw material for generating the organic gas and / or vapor in the present invention is selected from those capable of generating carbon (graphite) by pyrolysis at the heat treatment temperature, particularly in a non-acidic atmosphere. . For example, the atmosphere may contain 50% by volume or more of methane, but it is not limited to this.
More specifically, hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, butane, butene, pentane, isobutane, hexane and the like, benzene, toluene, xylene, styrene, ethylbenzene, diphenylmethane, naphthalene, phenol, Examples thereof include 1 to 3 aromatic hydrocarbons such as cresol, nitrobenzene, chlorobenzene, indene, coumarone, pyridine, anthracene, phenanthrene, and mixtures thereof. Further, gas light oil, creosote oil, anthracene oil, naphtha cracked tar oil and the like obtained in the tar distillation step can be used alone or as a mixture.

In this case, the coating amount of the graphite coating is not particularly limited, but the proportion of graphite is preferably 0.3 to 40% by mass, more preferably 0.5 to 30% by mass with respect to the entire graphite-coated particles. desirable.
By setting the graphite coating amount to 0.3% by mass or more, it is possible to maintain sufficient conductivity, and it is possible to reliably achieve improvement in cycleability when used as a negative electrode of a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery. . In addition, if the graphite coating amount is 40% by mass or less, the improvement of the effect is not seen, and the proportion of graphite in the negative electrode material is increased, and the charge / discharge capacity is used when used as the negative electrode material for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries. It is possible to reduce the possibility of occurrence of such a situation as much as possible.

Thereafter, N particles (for example, N = 20) in the produced conductive powder were randomly extracted to measure the Raman spectrum of each particle, and the silicon peak I _Si appearing at 500 cm ⁻¹ of each particle was 1580 cm. the intensity ratio of the peak _{I G} of graphite appearing at ^-1 to measure the _I Si / _{I G.}
Then, the standard deviation σ of the I _{Si /} I _G of the resulting N number of particles to assess whether less than a predetermined value (e.g., 10 or less).

Here, the predetermined value of the standard deviation σ of the I _{Si /} I _G of the N particles can be determined that the graphite coating is uniform can be 10, more preferably 5, more preferably to 3 that Can do.
In this way, by the standard deviation σ of the I _{Si /} I _G of the resulting N number of particles 10 or less, high that the particles of graphite coating is not thin or, or coating contains many Can be suppressed with probability. Therefore, it is important to evaluate whether the standard deviation σ satisfies the relationship σ ≦ 10.

Further, the number of N to be extracted can be 20. However, of course, the number is not limited to this, and N = 10, N = 30, and other values can be used.
If the number is 20, the number of measurements is increased more than necessary and the time required for the measurement does not become too long, and the evaluation accuracy is lowered because the number of measurements is small. it can.

The negative for the resulting N number of I _{Si /} I standard deviation σ is only a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery is sent to the next step electroconductive powder particles were less than a predetermined value is extracted in _G of particulate electrode material Manufacturing.

  By producing a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery by such a method, only conductive particles coated with graphite more uniformly than conventional can be produced with high accuracy and efficiency. A negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery that can improve efficiency and cycle characteristics can be produced more efficiently than in the past.

[Lithium ion secondary battery]
In addition, the lithium ion secondary battery of the present invention is characterized by comprising a negative electrode using the above negative electrode material, and other positive electrodes, electrolytes, separators, and other materials, battery shapes, and the like are used. There is no particular limitation.

Here, when producing a negative electrode using the said negative electrode material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, conductive agents, such as carbon and graphite, can be added further. Also in this case, the kind of the conductive agent is not particularly limited, and any electronic conductive material that does not cause decomposition or alteration in the configured battery may be used.
Specifically, metal particles such as Al, Ti, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Sn, Si, metal fibers, natural graphite, artificial graphite, various coke particles, mesophase carbon, vapor grown carbon fiber, pitch Graphite such as carbon-based carbon fiber, PAN-based carbon fiber, and various resin fired bodies can be used.

Examples of the method for preparing the negative electrode (molded body) include the following methods.
A paste-like mixture is prepared by kneading a negative electrode material, if necessary, a conductive agent, and other additives such as a binder, with a solvent such as N-methylpyrrolidone or water. Apply to current collector sheet.
In this case, as the current collector, any material that is usually used as a negative electrode current collector, such as a copper foil or a nickel foil, can be used without any particular limitation on thickness and surface treatment.
In addition, the shaping | molding method which shape | molds a mixture into a sheet form is not specifically limited, A well-known method can be used.

As the positive electrode active material, oxides of transition metals such as LiCoO ₂ , LiNiO ₂ , LiMn ₂ O ₄ , V ₂ O ₅ , MnO ₂ , TiS ₂ , MoS ₂ , lithium, chalcogen compounds, and the like are used.
As the electrolyte, for example, a non-aqueous solution containing a lithium salt such as lithium hexafluorophosphate and lithium perchlorate is used. As the non-aqueous solvent, one or a combination of two or more of propylene carbonate, ethylene carbonate, diethyl carbonate, dimethoxyethane, γ-butyrolactone, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran and the like are used. Various other non-aqueous electrolytes and solid electrolytes can also be used.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example and a comparative example are shown and this invention is demonstrated more concretely, this invention is not limited to these.
Example 1
100 g of SiO _x (x = 1.01) having an average particle diameter of 5 μm and a BET specific surface area of 3.5 m ² / g was charged into a batch heating furnace so that the powder layer thickness was 10 mm.
Then, the inside of the furnace was heated to 900 ° C. while reducing the inside of the furnace with an oil rotary vacuum pump. Then, after reaching 900 ° C., CH ₄ gas was introduced at 0.3 NL / min, and the graphite coating treatment was performed for 5 hours. Further, after CH ₄ gas was passed through at 0.3 NL / min, the temperature was raised to 1100 ° C. at 50 ° C./hr and held at 1100 ° C. for 3 hours. In addition, the pressure reduction degree at this time was 800 Pa.
After the treatment, the temperature was lowered to obtain 106 g of black particles.

The obtained black particles were conductive particles having an average particle diameter of 5.2 μm, a BET specific surface area of 6.5 m ² / g, and a graphite coating amount of 5.7 mass% with respect to the black particles.
The conductive particles extracted into 20 randomly using Horiba microscopic laser Raman spectrometer LabRAM HR-800, the peak of graphite near 1580 cm ^-1 and Si peaks of near 500 cm ^-1 _{(I Si)} (I _G ) was evaluated, and the intensity ratio (I _Si / I _G ) was measured.
When the standard deviation σ of the result was calculated, σ was 0.1.

<Battery evaluation>
Next, battery evaluation using the obtained particles as a negative electrode active material was performed by the following method.
First, 45% by mass of the obtained negative electrode material, 45% by mass of artificial graphite (average particle size 10 μm), and 10% by mass of polyimide were mixed, and N-methylpyrrolidone was further added to form a slurry.
This slurry was applied to a copper foil having a thickness of 12 μm, dried at 80 ° C. for 1 hour, then subjected to pressure molding by a roller press, and the electrode was vacuum-dried at 350 ° C. for 1 hour. Then, it punched out to 2 cm < ² > and set it as the negative electrode.

  In order to evaluate the charge / discharge characteristics of the obtained negative electrode, a lithium foil was used for the counter electrode, and lithium hexafluorophosphate was mixed with ethylene carbonate and diethyl carbonate in a 1/1 (volume ratio) mixture as a non-aqueous electrolyte. A lithium ion secondary battery for evaluation using a non-aqueous electrolyte solution dissolved at a concentration of 1 mol / L and a polyethylene microporous film having a thickness of 30 μm as a separator was prepared.

The prepared lithium ion secondary battery is allowed to stand at room temperature overnight, and then charged with a secondary battery charge / discharge tester (manufactured by Nagano Co., Ltd.) until the voltage of the test cell reaches 0 V / 0.5 mA / cm ^2. After reaching 0V, the battery was charged by decreasing the current so as to keep the cell voltage at 0V. The charging was terminated when the current value fell below 40 μA / cm ² . The discharge was performed at a constant current of 0.5 mA / cm ² , and the discharge was terminated when the cell voltage reached 1.4 V, and the discharge capacity was determined.
The initial charge / discharge efficiency was calculated from the charge capacity (initial charge capacity) and the discharge capacity (initial discharge capacity) at this time.
The above charge / discharge test was repeated, and a charge / discharge test after 50 cycles of the lithium ion secondary battery for evaluation was performed. The results are shown in Table 1.

  As a result, the initial charge capacity is 2150 mAh / g, the initial discharge capacity is 1656 mAh / g, the initial charge / discharge efficiency is 77%, the discharge capacity at the 50th cycle is 1573 mAh / g, and the cycle retention is 95% after 50 cycles, and It was confirmed that the lithium ion secondary battery was excellent in initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycleability.

(Example 2)
The same SiO _x particles as in Example 1 were charged into a batch-type heating furnace.
Then, while reducing the pressure inside the furnace with an oil rotary vacuum pump, the temperature inside the furnace was raised to 800 ° C. at 200 ° C./hr, and then from 800 ° C., CH ₄ gas was vented at 0.3 NL / min at 30 ° C. / The temperature was raised to 1100 ° C. at a rate of temperature increase of hr. When the temperature reached 1100 ° C., the graphite coating treatment was performed by holding the CH ₄ gas at 0.3 NL / min for 3 hours while aeration was performed. After the treatment, the temperature was lowered to obtain 106.5 g of black particles.
The obtained black particles were conductive particles having an average particle diameter of 5.3 μm, a BET specific surface area of 6.2 m ² / g, and a graphite coating amount of 6.0% by mass with respect to the black particles.
And the standard deviation σ of the particle 20 _I Si / _{I G} was 0.4.

Next, a negative electrode was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and battery evaluation was performed. The results are shown in Table 1.
As a result, the initial charge capacity is 2140 mAh / g, the initial discharge capacity is 1626 mAh / g, the initial charge / discharge efficiency is 76%, the discharge capacity at the 50th cycle is 1512 mAh / g, and the cycle retention is 93% after 50 cycles, and It was confirmed that the lithium ion secondary battery was excellent in initial charge / discharge efficiency and cycleability.

(Reference example)
The same SiO _x particles 100 g as in Example 1 were charged into a batch-type heating furnace.
Then, the inside of the furnace was heated to 1100 ° C. while reducing the inside of the furnace with an oil rotary vacuum pump. After reaching 1100 ° C., CH ₄ gas was introduced at 0.6 NL / min, and the graphite coating treatment was performed for 3 hours. In addition, the pressure reduction degree at this time was 1500 Pa.
The obtained black particles were particles having a graphite coating amount of 5.3 mass%, an average particle diameter of 5.1 μm, and a BET specific surface area of 5.1 m ² / g with respect to the black particles.
And the standard deviation σ of the particle 20 _I Si / _{I G} was 4.8.

Next, a negative electrode was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and battery evaluation was performed. The results are shown in Table 1.
As a result, the initial charge capacity was 2030 mAh / g, the initial discharge capacity was 1563 mAh / g, the initial charge / discharge efficiency was 77%, the 50th cycle discharge capacity was 1360 mAh / g, and the cycle retention after 50 cycles was 86%.

(Comparative Example 1)
300 g of the same SiO _x particles as in Example 1 were charged into a batch-type heating furnace. The powder layer thickness at this time was 30 mm.
Then, the inside of the furnace was heated to 1100 ° C. while reducing the inside of the furnace with an oil rotary vacuum pump. After reaching 1100 ° C., CH ₄ gas was introduced at 0.6 NL / min, and the graphite coating treatment was performed for 8 hours. In addition, the pressure reduction degree at this time was 1500 Pa.
When recovered after cooling, a brownish portion was observed at the bottom, which was thought to be not sufficiently covered with graphite.
When this powder was mixed and measured, it was particles having a graphite coating amount of 5.4% by mass, an average particle size of 5.0 μm, and a BET specific surface area of 5.5 m ² / g.
And the standard deviation σ is 12.4 particles 20 _I Si / _{I G,} the variation was large.

Next, a negative electrode was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and battery evaluation was performed. The results are shown in Table 1.
As a result, the initial charge capacity was 1826 mAh / g, the initial discharge capacity was 1388 mAh / g, the initial charge / discharge efficiency was 76%, the 50th cycle discharge capacity was 1193 mAh / g, and the cycle retention after 50 cycles was 86%.
Thus, it was confirmed that the negative electrode material of Comparative Example 1 is a lithium ion secondary battery that is clearly inferior in discharge capacity and initial charge / discharge efficiency as compared with the negative electrode materials of Examples 1 and 2 and the reference example.

(Comparative Example 2)
The same SiO _x particles 100 g as in Example 1 were charged into a batch-type heating furnace.
Then, the inside of the furnace was heated to 1100 ° C. while reducing the inside of the furnace with an oil rotary vacuum pump. After reaching 1100 ° C., 0.3 g / min of toluene and Ar 2 L / min were flown into the furnace to perform a graphite coating treatment for 2 hours. In addition, the pressure reduction degree at this time was 1000 Pa.
The obtained black particles were particles having a graphite coating amount of 5.6% by mass, an average particle size of 5.6 μm, and a BET specific surface area of 3.1 m ² / g with respect to the black particles.
And the standard deviation σ is 11.0 particles 20 _I Si / _{I G,} the variation was large.

Next, a negative electrode was produced in the same manner as in Example 1, and battery evaluation was performed. The results are shown in Table 1.
As a result, the initial charge capacity was 2160 mAh / g, the initial discharge capacity was 1663 mAh / g, the initial charge / discharge efficiency was 77%, the 50th cycle discharge capacity was 948 Ah / g, and the cycle retention after 50 cycles was 57%.
Thus, it was confirmed that the negative electrode material of Comparative Example 2 is a lithium ion secondary battery that is clearly inferior in cycle characteristics as compared with the negative electrode materials of Examples 1 and 2 and the reference example.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above-described embodiment is an exemplification, and the present invention has any configuration that has substantially the same configuration as the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention and that exhibits the same effects. Are included in the technical scope.

  For example, in Examples 1 and 2 and Reference Examples and Comparative Example 1-2, the evaluation was performed with N = 20 and the predetermined value of the standard deviation σ being 10. However, when N = 10 and 30, the standard deviation σ was also evaluated. It was confirmed that the same tendency as above was shown by appropriately setting. Of course, N can be larger than 30, but the accuracy is improved, but the evaluation takes time.

Claims (3)

At least a negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising a conductive powder coated with a graphite film on the surface of a powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon,
Wherein the conductive powder is graphite peaks appearing in silicon peak _{I Si} and 1580 cm ^-1 appear to 20 particles in the conductive powder is measured Raman spectrum of each was randomly particles 500 cm ^-1 when measured the intensity ratio _I Si / _{I G} of I _G, standard deviation sigma of _I Si / _{I G} of 20 particles obtained are satisfy the relation of sigma ≦ 3,
The conductive powder has a silicon peak I _Si ,
The negative electrode material for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery, wherein the coating amount of the graphite coating is 0.3 to 40% by mass with respect to the entire graphite-coated particles. The powder made of a material capable of inserting and extracting lithium ions containing silicon includes silicon powder, particles having a composite structure in which silicon fine particles are dispersed in a silicon-based compound, and a general formula SiO _x (0.5 ≦ x 2. The negative electrode material for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to claim 1, which is any one of silicon oxide powders represented by ≦ 1.6) or a mixture of two or more thereof. A lithium ion secondary battery comprising at least a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and a lithium ion conductive nonaqueous electrolyte, wherein the negative electrode is a negative electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte secondary battery according to claim 1 or 2. A lithium ion secondary battery characterized in that a material is used.