Negative electrode for non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery and method for producing the same

1. A negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery, comprising:

an active material layer capable of electrochemically absorbing and desorbing at least Li; and

a current collector sheet that supports said active material layer thereon and that does not react with Li,

wherein said active material layer includes a plurality of deposited films or sintered films supported on a surface of said current collector sheet,

each of said deposited films or sintered films comprises a top surface side and a lateral side surface and are spaced apart from immediately adjacent said deposited or sintered films, and

each of said deposited or sintered films is provided with at least one groove formed in a lateral side surface thereof, said groove extending from the top surface side to said surface of said current collector sheet.

2. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein said plurality of deposited films or sintered films each have an aspect ratio defined by “film thickness”÷“shortest width of top surface” of not less than 0.1.

3. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 2 ,

wherein said aspect ratio is not less than 0.3.

4. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein said plurality of deposited films or sintered films are arranged in a grid configuration, a staggered grid configuration or a honeycomb configuration on a surface of said current collector sheet.

5. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein, in a discharged state, said plurality of deposited films or sintered films have an average height of not less than 1 μm and not more than 30 μm.

6. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 5 ,

wherein said average height of said deposited films or sintered films is not less than 2 μm and not more than 20 μm.

7. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein, in a discharged state, the shortest distance between said deposited films or sintered films that are adjacent with each other is narrower than the shortest width of said top surface.

8. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 7 ,

wherein a relationship between the shortest width: W 1 and the shortest distance: W 2 satisfies 0.1W 1 ≦W 2 ≦0.8W 1 .

9. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein each of said deposited films or sintered films includes an element M1 that electrochemically reacts with Li, and said element M1 is at least one selected from the group consisting of Si, Sn, Al, Ge, Pb, Bi and Sb.

10. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 9 ,

wherein an element M1 forms a low crystalline or amorphous region in each of said deposited films or sintered films.

11. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 9 ,

wherein a content of an element M1 in each of said deposited films or sintered films is not less than 40 wt %.

12. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein each of said deposited films or sintered films includes an element M2 that does not electrochemically react with Li, and said element M2 is at least one selected from the group consisting of transition metal elements.

13. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 12 ,

wherein a content of an element M2 is higher on said current collector sheet side than that on a surface side of each of said deposited films or sintered films.

14. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 12 ,

wherein said transition metal elements are at least one selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ti, Ni, and Fe.

15. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein the top surface sides of each deposited or sintered film are substantially coplanar.

16. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein a width of said groove extending towards said surface of said current collector sheet is not more than 1/10 and not less than 1/100 the shortest width of said top surface side.

17. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein a depth of said groove extending towards said surface of said current collector sheet is not more than 1/10 and not less than 1/100 the shortest width of said top surface side.

18. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein the lateral side surface of said deposited or sintered films has a plurality of said grooves extending towards said surface of said current collector sheet, and a sum of widths of said grooves is not more than ⅔ the shortest width of said top surface side.

19. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein said plurality of deposited films or sintered films each have a porosity of not more than 30%.

20. The negative electrode for a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery in accordance with claim 1 ,

wherein plurality of deposited films or sintered films each contain an oxide represented by the chemical formula SiO x , where x<2.

21. A non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery comprising:

a positive electrode capable of absorbing and desorbing lithium;

the negative electrode in accordance with claim 1 ;

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

a non-aqueous electrolyte.