Lithium secondary battery including a negative electrode which is a sintered layer of silicon particles and/or silicon alloy particles and a nonaqueous electrolyte containing carbon dioxide dissolved therein and method for producing same

1. A rechargeable lithium battery including a negative electrode made by sintering a layer of a mixture of silicon particles, which undergo a porosity increase that advances inside from particle surfaces during charge and discharge, and a binder on a surface of a conductive metal foil current collector, a positive electrode and a nonaqueous electrolyte, characterized in that said nonaqueous electrolyte contains carbon dioxide dissolved therein in addition to carbon dioxide formed during fabrication of the battery and forms a film having a lithium-ion conducting capability on a surface of said negative electrode,

wherein the amount of added carbon dioxide dissolved in said nonaqueous electrolyte is at least 0.1 by weight.

2. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said sintering is performed under a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

3. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that carbon dioxide is further contained in an inner space of the battery.

4. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said nonaqueous electrolyte contains a cyclic carbonate.

5. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said nonaqueous electrolyte contains a mixed solvent of a cyclic carbonate and a chain carbonate.

6. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 4 , characterized in that said cyclic carbonate includes ethylene carbonate and/or propylene carbonate.

7. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 4 , characterized in that said cyclic carbonate is ethylene carbonate.

8. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 4 , characterized in that said cyclic carbonate is propylene carbonate.

9. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 5 , characterized in that said chain carbonate includes at least one of dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate and methyl ethyl carbonate.

10. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said nonaqueous electrolyte further contains a fluorine-containing compound.

11. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 10 , characterized in that said fluorine-containing compound is a fluorine-containing lithium salt.

12. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 11 , characterized in that said fluorine-containing lithium salt is LiXF y (wherein X is P, As, Sb, B, Bi, Al, Ga or In; y is 6 if X is P, As or Sb and y is 4 if X is B, Bi, Al, Ga or In) or LiN(C m F 2m+1 SO 2 )(C n F 2n+1 SO 2 ) (wherein m and n are independently integers of 1-4).

13. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 11 , characterized in that said fluorine-containing lithium salt is at least one selected from LiPF 6 , LiBF 4 and LiN(C 2 F 5 SO 2 ) 2 .

14. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said silicon particles have a mean particle diameter of 10 μm or below.

15. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said current collector has an arithmetic mean surface roughness Ra of at least 0.2 μm.

16. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said current collector comprises a copper foil, a copper alloy foil or a metal foil having a copper or copper alloy surface layer.

17. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said current collector comprises an electrolytic copper foil, an electrolytic copper alloy foil or a metal foil having an electrolytic copper or copper alloy surface layer.

18. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said binder remains even after a heat treatment for the sintering.

19. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that said binder comprises polyimide.

20. The rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 1 , characterized in that an electric conductor is mixed in said mixture layer.

21. A method for fabricating a rechargeable lithium battery including a negative electrode, a positive electrode and a nonaqueous electrolyte, characterized as comprising the steps of:

providing a layer of a mixture of silicon particles, which particles undergo a porosity increase that advances inside from particle surfaces during charge and discharge, and a binder on a surface of a conductive metal foil as a current collector and sintering the mixture layer while being placed on said surface of the conductive metal foil to prepare said negative electrode;

dissolving carbon dioxide in said nonaqueous electrolyte in an amount of at least 0.1% by weight; and

assembling a rechargeable lithium battery using said negative electrode, positive electrode and nonaqueous electrolyte, wherein a film having a lithium-ion conducting capability is formed on a surface of said negative electrode by the dissolving of the carbon dioxide in the said nonaqueous electrolyte.

22. The method for fabricating a rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 21 , characterized in that said sintering is performed under a non-oxidizing atmosphere.

23. The method for fabricating a rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 21 , characterized in that the step of dissolving carbon dioxide in the nonaqueous electrolyte includes a step of blowing gaseous carbon dioxide into the nonaqueous electrolyte.

24. The method for fabricating a rechargeable lithium battery as recited in claim 21 , characterized in that the step of assembling a rechargeable lithium battery includes a step of assembling a rechargeable lithium battery under the atmosphere including carbon dioxide.