Lithium secondary battery having improved safety and stability

1. A lithium secondary battery, comprising:

a cathode, an anode, a separator interposed between the cathode and the anode, and an electrolyte solution,

wherein the cathode comprises:

an electrode current collector; and

an electrode active material layer formed on at least one surface of the electrode current collector and comprising an electrode active material, a conductive material, and a binder,

wherein the electrode active material comprises:

a core formed from a lithium-containing transition metal oxide, and

a shell formed on a surface of the core and comprising lithium metal oxide particles, a polymer, and conductive carbon,

wherein the dielectric constant of the polymer may be in a range of 1 to 50, and, wherein a content of the polymer is in a range of 0.1 to 3.0 parts by weight based on 100parts by weight of the core,

wherein the shell comprises a lithium metal oxide particle layer formed on the core, and a polymer layer coated on a surface of the lithium metal oxide particle layer,

wherein the polymer is any one selected from the group consisting of PVdF (poly(vinylidene fluoride)), PVdF-co-HFP (Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene)), PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol), and PVC (poly(vinyl chloride)), or mixtures thereof; and

wherein the anode comprises:

an electrode current collector; and

an electrode active material layer formed on at least one surface of the electrode current collector, and comprising an electrode active material, a conductive material, and a binder,

wherein the electrode active material comprises:

a core formed from one selected from the group consisting of a carbon material, a lithium metal, and a metal compound, or mixtures thereof, and

a shell formed on a surface of the core and comprising lithium metal oxide particles, a polymer, and conductive carbon,

wherein the dielectric constant of the polymer may be in a range of 1 to 50, and, wherein a content of the polymer is in a range of 0.1 to 3.0 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the core,

wherein the shell comprises a lithium metal oxide particle layer formed on the core, and a polymer layer coated on a surface of the lithium metal oxide particle layer, and

wherein the polymer is any one selected from the group consisting of PVdF (poly(vinylidene fluoride)), PVdF-co-HFP (Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene)), PVA (Polyvinyl alcohol), and PVC (poly(vinyl chloride)), or mixtures thereof.

2. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein the lithium-containing transition metal oxide of the core is any one selected from the group consisting of LiCoO 2 , LiNiO 2 , LiMnO 2 , LiMn 2 O 4 , Li(Ni a Co b Mn c )O 2 (0<a<1, 0<b<1, 0<c<1, a+b+c=1), LiNi 1-y Co y O 2 , LiCo 1-y Mn y O 2 , LiNi 1-y Mn y O 2 (O≤y<1), Li(Ni a Co b Mn c )O 4 (0<a<2, 0<b<2, 0<c<2, a+b+c=2), LiMn 2-z Ni z O 4 , and LiMn 2-z Co z O 4 (0<z<2), or mixtures thereof.

3. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein the carbon material is any one selected from the group consisting of soft carbon, hard carbon, natural graphite, Kish graphite, pyrolytic carbon, mesophase pitch based carbon fiber, Mesophase Graphite Powder (MGP), meso-carbon microbeads, Mesophase pitches, petroleum derived cokes, and coal tar derived cokes, or mixtures thereof.

4. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein the lithium metal oxide particles are particles of any one selected from the group consisting of lithium iron phosphate, lithium manganese phosphate, lithium iron manganese phosphate, lithium titanate, and lithium vanadium oxide , or particles of mixtures thereof.

5. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein the metal compound is a compound containing at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, Sn, Pb, P, Sb, Bi, Al, Ga, In, Ti, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ag, Mg, Sr, and Ba, or mixtures thereof.

6. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein an average particle size of the lithium metal oxide particles is less than or equal to 1 μm.

7. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein the shell further comprises metal oxide.

8. The lithium secondary battery of claim 1 , wherein the dielectric constant is 5 or more.