KR20110017596A - Preparation method of cathode electrode for lithium secondary battery and lithium secondary battery comprising the electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for manufacturing a positive electrode for a lithium secondary battery is provided to improve electrical characteristics of the lithium secondary battery and thermal stability of the positive electrode by uniformly applying a positive electrode active material composition to an electrode plate. CONSTITUTION: A method for manufacturing a positive electrode for a lithium secondary battery comprises the steps of: (S1) mixing a positive electrode active material with an organic solvent and ball-milling the mixture to prepare a mixed solution; (S2) adding conductors and binders to the mixed solution to obtain slurry; (S3) stirring the slurry through an impeller stirring process to prepare a positive electrode active material composition; and (S4) applying the positive electrode active material composition on a current collector and drying the positive electrode active material composition.

Description

Method for manufacturing a positive electrode plate of a lithium secondary battery and a lithium secondary battery manufactured using the same {PREPARATION METHOD OF CATHODE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY AND LITHIUM SECONDARY BATTERY COMPRISING THE ELECTRODE}

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a positive electrode plate of a lithium secondary battery, and more particularly, to improve agglomeration phenomenon when forming a paste including a positive electrode active material, and to uniformly coat the positive electrode active material composition on the electrode plate to improve electrical characteristics of the lithium secondary battery. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a positive electrode plate of a lithium secondary battery capable of improving and also improving thermal stability, and a lithium secondary battery manufactured using the same.

In recent years, the miniaturization of mobile information terminals such as mobile phones, notebook computers, PDAs, and the like is rapidly progressing, and the importance of batteries is increasing. In particular, the development of lithium secondary batteries for HEVs and electric vehicles is actively progressing. In this regard, recent studies have been conducted to improve thermal stability due to an explosion of a mobile phone. Moreover, because transport batteries are a problem directly related to the lives of passengers, research is being conducted to improve thermal stability more urgently.

On the other hand, there are a number of causes for determining the thermal stability of the lithium secondary battery, it is known until now that oxygen desorption of the positive electrode is an important cause. In the case of the positive electrode active material LiFePO ₄ , the oxygen desorption temperature is 300 ° C. or more, and 100 ° C. is higher than that of the existing LiCoO ₂ positive electrode active material, and thus, research is being actively conducted. However, LiFePO ₄ has a low electric conductivity of 10 ⁻⁹ to 10 ⁻¹² [Ωcm] ⁻¹ , and is used in combination of a cathode active material of 1 μm or less and a material having carbon adsorbed on the surface thereof. LiFePO _{4 up to} 1 μm In order to use the positive electrode active material and the material which adsorb | suck carbon on the surface, submicron material should be mixed. However, the mixing of such submicron materials is technically difficult, and when the existing process is used, agglomeration and non-uniformity may occur, and a part of the secondary battery may be overcharged during charging. Therefore, a problem occurs that the thermal stability is lowered.

In order to solve this problem, the present inventors continued research and development to improve the electrode plate uniformity by coating a positive electrode active material composition prepared by using a ball mill process and an impeller stirring process on a current collector. As a result, a positive electrode plate with remarkably improved uniformity and electrical characteristics of the electrode plate was manufactured, and a method of manufacturing a cathode plate of a lithium secondary battery with remarkably improved thermal stability as a result of thermal stability analysis was completed.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art described above, improves the phenomenon of the active material in the slurry or paste when manufacturing the electrode to improve the conductivity and thermal stability of the lithium secondary battery electrode cathode electrode plate manufacturing method And it aims to provide a lithium secondary battery manufactured using the same.

For the above purpose, the method for manufacturing a lithium secondary battery positive electrode plate according to the present invention consists of the following steps.

(S1) preparing a mixed solution by mixing the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material and the organic solvent using a ball mill process;

(S2) preparing a slurry by adding a conductive agent and a binder to the mixed solution prepared in step (S1):

(S3) preparing a positive electrode active material composition by stirring the slurry through an impeller stirring process; And

(S4) drying the positive electrode active material composition after coating the positive electrode active material composition on a current collector.

1, the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material and an organic solvent are mixed, and then a mixed solution is prepared using a ball mill process (S1).

In the method of manufacturing a cathode plate of a lithium secondary battery according to the present invention, LIFePO ₄ of 1 μm or less is used as a cathode active material.

N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) is preferably used as the organic solvent, and the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material is dissolved in an organic solvent and mixed, followed by a ball mill process to prepare a mixed solution.

The ball mill process used in the present invention may be a ball mill process commonly used in the art to which the present invention pertains, and the ball used in the ball mill process may be made of alumina, zirconia, stainless steel, or a mixture thereof. It is not limited.

In the next step, the slurry is prepared by adding the conductive agent and the binder to the mixed solution prepared in step (S1) (S2).

The conductive agent is used to reduce the battery resistance of the electrode. As the conductive agent, for example, carbon black or graphite fine particles may be used. In the step (S2), the conductive agent is preferably added in a weight ratio of 1: 2 to 20: 1 relative to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material. When the ratio of the conductive agent to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material exceeds 1: 2, the capacity per unit weight of the positive electrode active material decreases, and when the ratio of the conductive agent to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material is less than 20: 1, electric conduction by the conductive agent There is a slight increase effect.

The binder may be used one or two or more selected from the group consisting of PTFE, PE and SBR. In the step (S2), the binder is preferably added in a weight ratio of 5: 1 to 10: 1 relative to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material. When the ratio of the binder to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material exceeds 5: 1, the capacity per unit weight of the positive electrode active material decreases, and when the ratio of the binder to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material is less than 10: 1, the positive electrode active material composition may detach from the electrode plate. There is a high probability problem.

In the next step, the slurry is stirred through an impeller stirring process to prepare a positive electrode active material composition (S3).

The impeller agitating process used in the present invention may be an impeller agitating process commonly used in the art to which the present invention pertains. In this case, the impeller disc used in the impeller agitating process uses impeller discs having different horizontal heights of the wings. It is preferable to prevent the disk surface from clogging during mixing of the positive electrode active material composition.

The LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material, the conductive agent, and the binder included in the positive electrode active material composition is preferably included in a solid content of 30 to 60%.

When the solid content of the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material, the conductive agent, and the binder included in the positive electrode active material composition exceeds 60%, there is a problem in that dispersibility in the slurry is lowered.

In the last step, the positive electrode active material composition is coated on a current collector and then the positive electrode active material composition is dried (S4).

In the step (S3), it is preferable to coat the positive electrode active material composition on a current collector to a thickness of 10 to 500 μm.

When the positive electrode active material composition is coated on the current collector with a thickness of less than 10 μm, the battery density may be reduced. When the positive electrode active material composition is coated over 500 μm, the lithium migration path is long and the electrical conductivity is lowered.

Meanwhile, the current collector may be a current collector manufactured using aluminum or copper, but is not limited thereto.

As a method of coating the positive electrode active material composition on the current collector in the step (S4), there is also a method of coating the positive electrode active material composition directly on the current collector, the coating, cast on a separate support, then peeled from the support There is also a method of laminating the coating on the current collector.

As described above, the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material and the organic solvent are mixed by using a ball mill process, and a conductive agent and a binder are added thereto, followed by stirring through an impeller stirring process to prepare a positive electrode active material composition. It is possible to prevent a phenomenon in which the positive electrode active material and the conductive agent aggregate during manufacture.

As described above, the positive electrode active material composition is mixed by using a ball mill process and an impeller stirring process to improve the electrical properties and thermal stability of the lithium secondary battery by uniformly coating the positive electrode active material composition on the current collector. More specifically, the lithium secondary battery including the positive electrode plate manufactured by manufacturing the positive electrode active material composition using a ball mill process and an impeller agitating process as described above, and then coating the positive electrode active material on a current collector has a high heat generation start temperature and a low amount of heat, resulting in thermal Stability can be improved.

LIFEPO ₄ After mixing a positive electrode active material and an organic solvent, a slurry is prepared by adding a conductive agent and a binder to a mixed solution prepared by using a ball mill process, and stirring the slurry through an impeller stirring process to prepare a positive electrode active material composition on a current collector. It provides a lithium secondary battery comprising a positive electrode plate formed by coating on.

As the conductive agent, the binder and the organic solvent, the same ones used in the above-described method for manufacturing a lithium secondary battery positive electrode plate can be used.

In the present invention, a positive electrode active material prepared by mixing a LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material and an organic solvent and then adding a conductive agent and a binder to a mixed solution prepared by using a ball mill process, and stirring the slurry through an impeller stirring process By providing a method of manufacturing a positive electrode plate for a lithium secondary battery that can coat the composition on the current collector in a microstructure uniformly, the thermal stability is excellent and the transfer resistance of lithium is lowered, the electrical performance is excellent.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments. However, the present embodiment is merely to illustrate the invention, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope and spirit of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that such variations and modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Example  One

91 wt% of LiFePO ₄ (POSTEX) powder was added to a reactor maintained at a volume of 5.1 L with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent and mixed, followed by a ball mill process by adding zirconia balls. The solution was prepared. 4 wt% of carbon black and 5 wt% of polyethylene as a binder were added to the mixed solution to prepare a slurry, and a cathode active material composition was prepared by stirring the prepared slurry through an impeller stirring process. In the ball mill process, the zirconia ball was set at a filling rate of 80% in the reactor, and a wm of 1.5 mm and an apparent specific gravity of 1.1642 were used. The conditions used in the ball mill process and the impeller stirring process are summarized in Table 1 below.

The positive electrode active material composition prepared through the above process to an aluminum current collector After coating to a thickness of 100 ㎛ to form an electrode plate, a positive electrode and a negative electrode was laminated to cross the cell of a desired capacity. By stacking 11 positive electrodes and 12 negative electrodes, a battery having a 50 Ah capacity could be manufactured. Subsequently, the laminated electrode plate was placed in a battery case, and the cover was covered. Then, an electrolyte solution was injected and aged for 1 hour in a vacuum state and 6 hours at room temperature, and then the battery was activated to manufacture a lithium secondary battery. It is shown in Table 2. FIG. 5 is a graph showing particle size analysis (PSA) results of a LiFePO ₄ (POSTECH Co., Ltd.) positive electrode active material used in Example 1 of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, it can be seen that LiFePO 4 (POSTECH Co., Ltd.) used in Example 1 is fine particles of 1 μm or less.

On the other hand, the impeller disk used in the impeller stirring process has four wings and impeller disks formed with different heights of the wings can be used. 6 is a view showing the impeller disk shape used in the impeller stirring step of the present embodiment. In the impeller stirring process, impeller disks having different horizontal heights of the wings of the impeller disks may be used to prevent the disk surface from clogging when the positive electrode active material composition is mixed.

Comparative example  One

A lithium secondary battery was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a general rotary mill was used to prepare a cathode active material composition, and electrical properties thereof were shown in Table 2 below.

As can be seen from Table 2, the lithium secondary battery prepared in Example 1 has a similar initial discharge capacity with the lithium secondary battery prepared in Comparative Example 1. However, it can be seen that the lithium secondary battery of Example 1 maintains excellent battery characteristics even after repeated charge and discharge, resulting in high cycle efficiency and low output resistance, thus showing high output and cycle efficiency.

Figure 2 (a) is a graph evaluated by performing the thermal stability analysis (DSC analysis) of the lithium secondary battery after charging the lithium secondary battery prepared in Example 1, Figure 2 (b) is in Comparative Example 1 After charging the manufactured lithium secondary battery is a graph evaluated by performing thermal stability analysis (DSC analysis) of the lithium secondary battery.

In (a) of FIG. 2, in the case of Example 1, the heat flow increases at a temperature exceeding 300 ° C., whereas in FIG. 2 (b), the heat flow increases in the case of Comparative Example 1 at 250 ° C. FIG. . In addition, the amount of heat known from the area under the curve was 290 J / g (Joule per gram) in the present Example 1, whereas 350 J / g in Comparative Example 1. From this, it can be seen that the lithium secondary battery of Example 1 is thermally remarkably stable compared to the battery of Comparative Example 1. On the surface of the positive electrode plate coated with the positive electrode active material composition manufactured without using the milling process and the impeller stirring process as in Comparative Example 1, aggregates between the active materials or the active material and the conductive agent, or projections due to undispersed mass are completed. There is a possibility of causing thermal runaway by causing micro short inside the lithium ion battery.

3 is a photograph taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) the surface of the positive electrode plate coated with the positive electrode active material composition prepared in Example 1, Figure 4 is a positive electrode plate coated with the positive electrode active material composition prepared in Comparative Example 1 The surface was photographed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). 3 and 4, the positive electrode active material and the conductive agent were unevenly coated on the surface of the positive electrode plate prepared in Comparative Example 1, but the positive electrode active material and the conductive agent were uniformly coated on the surface of the positive electrode plate prepared in Example 1. .

As described above, the positive electrode active material composition is uniformly coated on the surface of the positive electrode plate of the lithium secondary battery manufactured according to the present invention, and the finished lithium secondary battery using the same exhibits excellent electrical characteristics and thermal stability.

1 is a process chart showing a process of manufacturing a positive electrode of a lithium secondary battery according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 (a) is a graph evaluated by performing the thermal stability analysis (DSC analysis) of the lithium secondary battery after charging the lithium secondary battery prepared in Example 1, Figure 2 (b) is in Comparative Example 1 After charging the prepared lithium secondary battery is a graph showing the thermal stability analysis (DSC analysis) of the lithium secondary battery.

3 is a photograph taken by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) the surface of the electrode plate coated with the positive electrode active material composition prepared in Example 1.

4 is a photograph taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) of the surface of the electrode plate coated with the positive electrode active material composition prepared in Comparative Example 1.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing particle size analysis (PSA) results of a LiFePO ₄ (POSTECH Co., Ltd.) positive electrode active material used in Example 1 of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the impeller disk shape of one Embodiment used at the impeller stirring process of Example 1 of this invention.

Claims (12)

(S1) preparing a mixed solution by mixing the positive electrode active material and the organic solvent and using a ball mill process; (S2) preparing a slurry by adding a conductive agent and a binder to the mixed solution prepared in step (S1): (S3) preparing a positive electrode active material composition by stirring the slurry through an impeller stirring process; And (S4) A method of manufacturing a cathode plate of a lithium secondary battery, comprising coating the cathode active material composition on a current collector and then drying the cathode active material composition. The method according to claim 1, The positive electrode active material is LIFePO ₄ , characterized in that the positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery. The method according to claim 1, The conductive agent is a carbon black or graphite fine particle positive electrode active material, characterized in that the positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery. The method according to claim 1, The binder is a positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery, characterized in that it comprises one or two or more selected from the group consisting of PTFE, PE and SBR. The method according to claim 1, The organic solvent is N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) characterized in that the positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery. The method according to claim 1 or 2, In the positive electrode active material composition, the positive electrode active material, the conductive agent and the binder are dissolved in an organic solvent with a solid content of 30 to 60%. The method according to claim 1, The ball used in the ball mill step in the step (S1) is a positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery, characterized in that any one or more selected from the group consisting of alumina, zirconia, stainless steel. The method according to claim 1, In the step (S2), the conductive agent is added in a ratio of 1: 2 to 20: 1 by weight relative to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material in a weight ratio of the positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery. The method according to claim 1, In the step (S2), the binder is a positive electrode plate manufacturing method of a lithium secondary battery, characterized in that the weight ratio is added in a ratio of 5: 1 to 10: 1 compared to the LIFePO ₄ positive electrode active material. The method according to claim 1, The positive electrode plate manufacturing method of the lithium secondary battery, characterized in that the material of the current collector is aluminum or copper. The method according to claim 1, In the step (S4), the positive electrode active material composition of the lithium secondary battery, characterized in that the coating on the current collector to a thickness of 10 to 500 ㎛. Lithium secondary battery comprising a positive electrode plate produced by the method of claim 1 or 2.

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