Patents by Inventor Tomomichi Nihei

Tomomichi Nihei has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11569504
    Abstract: The production method is a method for producing a positive electrode active material for a lithium ion secondary battery which contains at least nickel and lithium, the method including: a firing process in which a mixture of a nickel compound powder and a lithium compound powder is fired; and a water washing process in which a lithium-nickel composite oxide powder obtained in the firing process is washed with water, wherein the firing process is performed under conditions such that a value obtained by dividing a ratio of an amount-of-substance of lithium to a total amount-of-substance of transition metals other than lithium in the lithium-nickel composite oxide powder after the washing with water by a ratio of an amount-of-substance of lithium to a total amount-of-substance of transition metals other than lithium in the lithium-nickel composite oxide powder before the washing with water exceeds 0.95.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO METAL MINING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasutaka Kamata, Yuji Kawakami, Tomomichi Nihei
  • Patent number: 11133504
    Abstract: A nickel complex oxide having a carbon content of 0.15% by mass or lower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO METAL MINING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuji Kawakami, Tomomichi Nihei
  • Publication number: 20210020933
    Abstract: The production method is a method for producing a positive electrode active material for a lithium ion secondary battery which contains at least nickel and lithium, the method including: a firing process in which a mixture of a nickel compound powder and a lithium compound powder is fired; and a water washing process in which a lithium-nickel composite oxide powder obtained in the firing process is washed with water, wherein the firing process is performed under conditions such that a value obtained by dividing a ratio of an amount-of-substance of lithium to a total amount-of-substance of transition metals other than lithium in the lithium-nickel composite oxide powder after the washing with water by a ratio of an amount-of-substance of lithium to a total amount-of-substance of transition metals other than lithium in the lithium-nickel composite oxide powder before the washing with water exceeds 0.95.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Publication date: January 21, 2021
    Inventors: Yasutaka Kamata, Yuji Kawakami, Tomomichi Nihei
  • Patent number: 10797316
    Abstract: A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has improved dispersibility in a paste to inhibit agglomeration and can be densely packed in a three-dimensional metal porous body in the preparation of a positive electrode for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide particles and a coating layer made of a cobalt compound and formed on a surface of the nickel hydroxide particles, wherein when 10 mL of water is added to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder to prepare a suspension, a total amount of eluted ions except for oxonium ions, hydroxide ions, and carbonate ions in the suspension is 6.5 mmol/L or less. The coated nickel hydroxide powder obtained through a crystallization step, a coating step, and a washing step is dried in a drying step in a decarbonated atmosphere whose partial pressure of a carbon-containing gas is 15 Pa or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuaki Okato, Tomomichi Nihei, Hideo Sasaoka
  • Publication number: 20200287214
    Abstract: A nickel complex oxide having a carbon content of 0.15% by mass or lower.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Publication date: September 10, 2020
    Inventors: Yuji KAWAKAMI, Tomomichi NIHEI
  • Patent number: 10680239
    Abstract: A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has improved dispersibility in a paste to inhibit agglomeration and can be densely packed in a three-dimensional metal porous body in the preparation of a positive electrode for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide particles having a coating layer made of a cobalt compound formed on a surface of the nickel hydroxide particles, wherein when 10 mL of water is added to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder to prepare a suspension, the suspension has a pH of 10.2 or higher (as measured at 25° C.). The coated nickel hydroxide powder obtained through a crystallization step and a coating step is washed in a washing step until an amount of ammonium ions eluted into a suspension obtained by adding 10 mL of water to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder becomes 0.35 mmol/L or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuaki Okato, Tomomichi Nihei, Hideo Sasaoka
  • Patent number: 9231250
    Abstract: The present invention provides nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide and a method for manufacturing same, the nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide as a precursor allowing a positive electrode active material having excellent battery characteristics and a high-density to be manufactured. The nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide is represented by a general formula: Ni1-x-y-zCoxMnyMz(OH)2 (wherein 0<x?1/3, 0<y?1/3, 0?z?0.1, and M is at least one element selected from Mg, Al, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, and W) and serves as a precursor of a positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries; wherein the specific surface area measured by a nitrogen adsorption BET method is 1.0 to 10.0 m2/g, the carbon content measured by a high frequency combustion infrared absorption method is not more than 0.1% by mass, and the half-value width of a plane in X-ray diffraction is not more than 1.5°.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Assignee: SUMITOMO METAL MINING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Katsuya Kase, Yasutaka Kamata, Hideo Sasaoka, Tomomichi Nihei, Takuya Yamauchi
  • Publication number: 20150311511
    Abstract: A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has improved dispersibility in a paste to inhibit agglomeration and can be densely packed in a three-dimensional metal porous body in the preparation of a positive electrode for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide particles and a coating layer made of a cobalt compound and formed on a surface of the nickel hydroxide particles, wherein when 10 mL of water is added to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder to prepare a suspension, the suspension having a pH of 10.2 or higher (as measured at 25° C.). The coated nickel hydroxide powder obtained through a crystallization step and a coating step is washed in a washing step until an amount of ammonium ions eluted into a suspension obtained by adding 10 mL of water to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder becomes 0.35 mmol/L or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Publication date: October 29, 2015
    Inventors: KAZUAKI OKATO, TOMOMICHI NIHEI, HIDEO SASAOKA
  • Publication number: 20150311523
    Abstract: A coated nickel hydroxide powder that has improved dispersibility in a paste to inhibit agglomeration and can be densely packed in a three-dimensional metal porous body in the preparation of a positive electrode for alkaline secondary battery includes nickel hydroxide particles and a coating layer made of a cobalt compound and formed on a surface of the nickel hydroxide particles, wherein when 10 mL of water is added to 10 g of the coated nickel hydroxide powder to prepare a suspension, a total amount of eluted ions except for oxonium ions, hydroxide ions, and carbonate ions in the suspension is 6.5 mmol/L or less. The coated nickel hydroxide powder obtained through a crystallization step, a coating step, and a washing step is dried in a drying step in a decarbonated atmosphere whose partial pressure of a carbon-containing gas is 15 Pa or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Publication date: October 29, 2015
    Inventors: Kazuaki OKATO, TOMOMICHI NIHEI, HIDEO SASAOKA
  • Publication number: 20150024207
    Abstract: The present invention provides nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide and a method for manufacturing same, the nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide as a precursor allowing a positive electrode active material having excellent battery characteristics and a high-density to be manufactured. The nickel-cobalt-manganese composite hydroxide is represented by a general formula: Ni1-x-y-zCoxMnyMz(OH)2 (wherein 0<x?1/3, 0<y?1/3, 0?z?0.1, and M is at least one element selected from Mg, Al, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Zr, Nb, Mo, and W) and serves as a precursor of a positive electrode active material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries; wherein the specific surface area measured by a nitrogen adsorption BET method is 1.0 to 10.0 m2/g, the carbon content measured by a high frequency combustion infrared absorption method is not more than 0.1% by mass, and the half-value width of a plane in X-ray diffraction is not more than 1.5°.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2013
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Applicant: SUMITOMO METAL MINING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Katsuya Kase, Yasutaka Kamata, Hideo Sasaoka, Tomomichi Nihei, Takuya Yamauchi