Active material, nonaqueous electrolyte battery, and battery pack

1. An active material comprising a monoclinic oxide of the formula Li x TiNb 2 O 7 (0≦x≦5) having a unit cell volume of from 795 Å 3 to 800 Å 3 .

2. The active material according to claim 1 , wherein the monoclinic oxide has a lattice constant a satisfying the following equation: 20.37 Å≦a≦20.53 Å.

3. The active material according to claim 1 , wherein the monoclinic oxide comprises oxygen defects.

4. The active material according to claim 1 , wherein a BET specific surface area of the monoclinic oxide is from 0.1 m 2 /g (inclusive) to 100 m 2 /g (exclusive).

5. The active material according to claim 1 , wherein a crystal structure of the monoclinic oxide has space group C2/m symmetry.

6. A nonaqueous electrolyte battery comprising: a positive electrode; a negative electrode containing the active material as claimed in claim 1 ; and a nonaqueous electrolyte.

7. The battery according to claim 6 , wherein the positive electrode comprises at least one active material selected from the group consisting of a manganese dioxide, an iron oxide, a copper oxide, a nickel oxide, a lithium-manganese complex oxide, a lithium-nickel complex oxide, a lithium-cobalt complex oxide, a lithium-nickel-cobalt complex oxide, a lithium-manganese-cobalt complex oxide, a lithium-manganese-nickel complex oxide having a spinel structure, a lithium phosphate having an olivine structure, an iron sulfate, a vanadium oxide, and a lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese complex oxide.

8. The battery according to claim 6 , wherein the negative electrode comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of titanium dioxide having an anatase structure, titanium dioxide having a monoclinic β-type structure, lithium titanate having a ramsdellite structure, and lithium titanate having a spinel structure.

9. The battery according to claim 6 , wherein the negative electrode comprises a current collector and a negative electrode active material-containing layer,

the active material-containing layer comprises a negative electrode active material, a conductive agent and a binder,

an amount of the negative electrode active material in the active material containing layer is 68% by mass to 96% by mass,

an amount of the conductive agent in the active material-containing layer is 2% by mass to 30% by mass, and

an amount of the binder in the active material-containing layer is 2% by mass to 30% by mass.

10. A battery pack comprising the nonaqueous electrolyte battery as claimed in claim 6 .

11. A battery pack according to claim 10 , further comprising a protective circuit which can detect the voltage of the nonaqueous electrolyte battery.

12. An active material comprising a monoclinic oxide of the formula

Li x TiNb 2 O 7

wherein

x is from 0 to 5,

a unit cell volume of the active material is from 795 Å 3 to 800 Å 3 ,

a lattice constant of the monoclinic oxide satisfies the equation:

20.37 Å≦ a≦ 20.53 Å

and the monoclinic oxide comprises oxygen defects.