Positive active material precursor, positive active material, method of preparing the same, positive electrode including the same and rechargeable lithium battery including the same

1. A positive active material precursor for a rechargeable lithium battery,

the positive active material precursor comprising:

a transition metal composite oxide precursor configured to exhibit a peak full width at half maximum of a (200) plane (20θ=about 42° to about 44°) in an X-ray diffraction analysis in a range of about 0.3° to about 0.5°.

2. The positive active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal composite oxide precursor comprises a compound represented by Chemical Formula 1:

Ni x Co y M 1-x-y O,

wherein M is at least one selected from Mn, Ni, Co, Al, Fe, V, Ti, Mg, Zr, B, F, and Cr, 0.3≤x≤1, 0≤y≤0.7, and 0.3≤x+y≤1.

3. The positive active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal composite oxide precursor comprises a first set of secondary particles including a first plurality of primary particles aggregated to each other, and

wherein each of the first primary particles has a flake or needle shape.

4. The positive active material precursor of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal composite oxide precursor has a Brunauer—Emmett—Teller (BET) specific surface area of about 20 m 2 /g to about 60 m 2 /g.

5. A positive active material for a rechargeable lithium battery prepared from the positive active material precursor of claim 1 , the positive active material comprising:

a nickel-based lithium transition metal oxide represented by Chemical Formula 2 comprising a second set of secondary particles including a second plurality of primary particles aggregated to each other:

Li a Ni x Co y M 1-x-y O 2 ,

wherein M is at least one selected from Mn, Ni, Co, Al, Fe, V, Ti, Mg, Zr, B, F, and Cr, 0.9≤a≤1.1, 0.3≤x≤1, 0≤y≤0.7, and 0.3≤x+y≤1.

6. The positive active material of claim 5 , wherein the second primary particles have a (003) plane, wherein an average interplanar spacing (d( 003 )) of the (003) plane of the second primary particles (surface grains) present in a surface portion of the second set of secondary particles is in the range of about 4.98 nm to about 5.00 nm, and

wherein an average interplanar spacing (d( 003 )) of the (003) plane of the second primary particles (inside grains) present in a center portion of the second set of secondary particles is in the range of about 4.98 nm to about 5.00 nm.

7. The positive active material of claim 6 , wherein a standard deviation of the interplanar spacings (d( 003 )) of the second primary particles present in the second set of secondary particles is in the range of about 0.005 to about 0.03.

8. The positive active material of claim 5 , further comprising a cobalt-based lithium transition metal oxide inside the second set of secondary particles or between the second primary particles.

9. The positive active material of claim 8 , wherein the cobalt-based lithium transition metal oxide is disposed in an area of less than or equal to about 30% of a total radius of the second set of secondary particles.

10. The positive active material of claim 8 , wherein the cobalt-based lithium transition metal oxide is included in an amount of about 1 wt % to about 5 wt % based on a total weight of the positive active material.

11. The positive active material of claim 5 , wherein the positive active material has a porosity of about 0.5% to about 2.5%.

12. The positive active material of claim 5 , wherein the positive active material has a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area of about 0.4 m 2 /g to about 0.5 m 2 /g.

13. The positive active material of claim 5 , wherein the positive active material has a pellet density of about 3.2 g/cm 3 to about 3.6 g/cm 3 .

14. The positive active material of claim 5 , wherein the first set of secondary particles are different from the second set of secondary particles, and wherein the first plurality of primary particles are the same as the second plurality of primary particles.

15. A method of preparing a positive active material from the positive active material precursor of claim 1 for a rechargeable lithium battery, the method comprising:

mixing a nickel compound, a cobalt compound, and optionally a metal compound to obtain a first mixture;

subjecting the first mixture to a co-precipitation reaction to obtain a first resulting product, washing with water, filtering and drying the first resulting product to prepare a transition metal hydroxide precursor represented by Chemical Formula 1A,

Ni x Co y M 1-x-y (OH) 2 ,

wherein M is at least one selected from Mn, Ni, Co, Al, Fe, V, Ti, Mg, Zr, B, F, and Cr, 0.3≤x≤1, 0≤y≤0.7, and 0.3≤x+y≤1;

subjecting the transition metal hydroxide precursor to a primary heat treatment at about 400° C. to about 600° C. for about 0.5 hour to about 20 hours to prepare a transition metal composite oxide precursor; and

mixing the transition metal composite oxide precursor and a lithium salt to obtain a second mixture and performing a secondary heat treatment on the second mixture to prepare a nickel-based lithium transition metal oxide.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

the primary heat treatment comprises a step firing process comprising a temperature increase process, a maintenance process, a reaction process and a temperature decrease process,

the temperature increase process is performed by heating the transition metal hydroxide precursor at a rate of about 1° C./min to about 5° C./min,

the maintenance process is performed at about 150° C. to about 250° C. for about 0.5 hours to about 10 hours,

the reaction process is performed at about 400° C. to about 600° C. for about 0.5 hours to about 10 hours, and

the temperature decrease process is performed by decreasing a temperature at a rate of about 1° C./min to about 5° C./min.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the lithium salt comprises a dehydrated lithium salt including LiOH.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the dehydrated lithium salt is prepared by vacuum-drying the hydrated lithium salt at a temperature of about 50° C. to about 200° C. for about 0.5 hours to about 20 hours then pulverizing a resultant.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the secondary heat treatment comprises heating the second mixture at a temperature of about 600° C. to about 800° C. for about 5 hours to about 25 hours.

20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising washing the nickel-based lithium transition metal oxide and performing a third heat treatment after adding a cobalt raw material, sodium hydroxide, and optionally a metal raw material.