Nickel active material precursor for lithium secondary battery, method for producing nickel active material precursor, nickel active material for lithium secondary battery produced by method, and lithium secondary battery having cathode containing nickel active material

1. A nickel-based active material precursor for a lithium secondary battery, comprising a core, an intermediate layer located on the core, and a shell located on the intermediate layer,

wherein porosity gradually decreases in the order of the core, the intermediate layer, and the shell, and

each of the intermediate layer and the shell has a radial arrangement structure.

2. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the core has a porosity of 15 to 20% and a pore size of 150 nm to 1 μm.

3. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the shell has a porosity of 2% or less and a pore size of less than 150 nm.

4. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate layer has a porosity of 10% to 15%.

5. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein an average particle diameter of the nickel-based active material precursor is in a range of 9 to 14 μm.

6. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the nickel-based active material precursor comprises plate particles, and

major axes of the plate particles are arranged in a radial direction.

7. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the nickel-based active material precursor is a compound represented by Formula 1 below:

Ni 1-x-y-z Co x Mn y M z OH  Formula 1

wherein in Formula 1, M is an element selected from the group consisting of boron (B), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zirconium (Zr), and aluminum (Al), and

x≤(1-x-y-z), y≤(1-x-y-z), 0<x<1, 0≤y<1, and 0≤z<1 are satisfied.

8. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 7 , wherein an amount of nickel contained in the nickel-based active material precursor is in a range of 0.33 to 0.95 mol % based on a total amount of transition metals (Ni, Co, and Mn) and is higher than an amount of each of manganese and cobalt contained in the nickel-based active material precursor.

9. The nickel-based active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the nickel-based active material precursor is Ni 0.6 Co 0.2 Mn 0.2 (OH) 2 , Ni 0.5 CO 0.2 Mn 0.3 (OH) 2 , Ni 0.33 Co 0.33 Mn 0.33 (OH) 2 , Ni 0.8 CO 0.1 Mn 0.1 (OH) 2 , or Ni 0.85 Co 0.1 Al 0.05 (OH) 2 .

10. A nickel-based active material for a lithium secondary battery obtained from the nickel-based active material precursor for a lithium secondary battery according to claim 1 .

11. A lithium secondary battery comprising a cathode including the nickel-based active material for a lithium secondary battery of claim 10 , an anode, and an electrolyte interposed between the cathode and the anode.

12. A method of producing a nickel-based active material precursor for a lithium secondary battery, the method comprising:

a first process of forming a core of the nickel-based active material precursor by reacting a complexing agent, a pH regulator, and a metal raw material for forming the nickel-based active material precursor;

a second process of forming an intermediate layer on the core obtained in the first process; and

a third process of forming a shell on the intermediate layer obtained in the second process,

wherein stirring powers of the second process and the third process are lower than that of the first process.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein pH levels of reaction mixtures of the respective first process, the second process, and the third process are the same.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein concentrations of the complexing agent gradually increase in the order of the first process, the second process, and the third process.