NEGATIVE ELECTRODE FOR A RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM BATTERY

A negative electrode and a rechargeable lithium battery, the negative electrode including a current collector; and a negative active material layer on at least one surface of the current collector, the negative active material layer including a carbon negative active material and a conductive agent, wherein the conductive agent includes at least one of a fiber-shaped conductive agent having a average length of about 1 μm to about 200 μm and a particle-shaped conductive agent having a average long diameter of about 1 μm to about 20 μm, and a DD (Degree of Divergence) value defined by Equation 1 is about 24 or greater: DD (Degree of Divergence)=()*100 [Equation 1] wherein, in Equation 1, Ia is a sum of peak intensities at non-planar angles measured by XRD using a CuKα ray, and Itotal is a sum of peak intensity at all angles measured by XRD using a CuKα ray.