Method for preparing electrode active material for rechargeable lithium battery, electrode active material for rechargeable lithium battery, and rechargeable lithium battery

1. A method for preparing an electrode active material for a rechargeable lithium battery, the method comprising:

performing first mixing to mix a carbon-based active material with a low crystalline carbon material;

performing second mixing using a solid phase epitaxy process to mix the mixture of the carbon-based active material and the low crystalline carbon material with a ceramic such that the ceramic is coated on the surface of the electrode active material by using the low crystalline carbon material as a binding layer; and

performing a heat treatment,

wherein an average particle size of the ceramic is 10 to 1000 nm.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treatment is performed after the first mixing.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treatment is performed after the second mixing.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treatment comprises a first heat treatment after the first mixing and a second heat treatment after the second mixing.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbon-based active material is natural graphite, artificial graphite, soft carbon, hard carbon, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low crystalline carbon material is a petroleum-based pitch, a coal-based pitch, a mesophase pitch, a low molecular heavy oil, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), sucrose, a phenol resin, a furan resin, furfuryl alcohol, polyacrylonitrile, cellulose, styrene, a polyimide, an epoxy resin, glucose, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic is an oxide generated from a metal oxide, a non-metal oxide, a composite metal oxide, a rare-earth oxide, a metal halide, a ceramic precursor, or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the ceramic precursor is zirconia, aluminum, polycarbosilane, polysiloxane, polysilazane, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic is SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 , TiO 2 , CeO 2 , ZrO 2 , BaTiO 3 , Y 2 O 3 , MgO, CuO, ZnO, AlPO 4 , AlF, Si 3 N 4 , AlN, TiN, WC, SiC, TiC, MoSi 2 , Fe 2 O 3 , GeO 2 , Li 2 O, MnO, NiO, zeolite, or a combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein an average particle size of the carbon-based active material is 1 to 30 μm.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein a content of the low crystalline carbon material is 0.1 to 50 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the carbon-based active material.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein a content of the ceramic is 0.1 to 10 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the mixture of the carbon-based active material and the low crystalline carbon material.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first mixing is performed by a mechanical mixing method.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the mechanical mixing method is performed by any one of ball milling, mechanofusion milling, shaker milling, planetary milling, attritor milling, disk milling, shape milling, nauta milling, nobilta milling, high speed mixing, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first mixing is performed between 500 and 2500 rpm.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second mixing is performed between 800 and 10,000 rpm.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treatment is performed under an atmosphere of hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, or a mixture thereof.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 250 to 1500° C.

19. The method of claim 4 , wherein

the first heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 250 to 1500° C., and

the second heat treatment is performed at a temperature of 600 to 3000° C.

20. An electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery comprises an electrode active material for a rechargeable lithium battery prepared by the method of claim 1 .

21. A rechargeable lithium battery comprising:

the electrode including the electrode active material of claim 20 ; and

an electrolyte.