Cathode active material and a manufacturing method thereof and an electrochemical device

The invention provides a high-capacity positive electrode active material capable of sufficiently exploiting the excellent characteristics of magnesium metal or the like as a negative electrode active material, such as high energy capacity; a method for producing the same; and an electrochemical device using the positive electrode active material. A positive electrode 11 includes a positive electrode can 1, a positive pole pellet 2 having a positive electrode active material and the like, and a metal mesh support 3. A negative electrode 12 includes a negative electrode cap 4 and a negative electrode active material 5 such as magnesium metal. The positive electrode pellet 2 and the negative electrode active material 5 are disposed so as to sandwich a separator 6, and an electrolyte 7 is injected into the separator 6. The positive electrode active material, which provides the feature of the invention, is synthesized by a step of reacting a permanganate, such as potassium permanganate, with hydrochloric acid preferably having a concentration of 3 to 4 mol/I to produce a precipitate, and a step of filtering the precipitate, thoroughly washing the filtered precipitate with water, and then subjecting the washed precipitate to heat treatment preferably at a temperature of 300 to 400°C for not less than 2 hours, thereby giving a manganese oxide.