Structure and electrochemical properties of La-Mg-Ni system hydrogen storage alloys with different Co contents

1 INTRODUCTIONTo increase the discharge capacity of nickel/metal-hydride ( Ni/ MH) batteries , new types ofhydrogen storage alloys with higher energy densityhave been paid considerable attention by research-ers . Particularly , recent investigations on theR-Mg-Ni (R=rare earth or Ca element) systemhydrogen storage alloys have led to a newseries ofternary alloys with a high hydrogen storage capaci-ty1 3]. Kohno et al4]found that the maxi mumdis-charge capacity of the La0 .7Mg0 .3Ni2 …

Structure and electrochemical properties of La-Mg-Ni system hydrogen storage alloys with different Co contents

The structure and electrochemical properties of the La0.7Mg0.3Ni3.4-xMn0.1Cox (x=0-1.05) hydrogen storage alloys were investigated. The crystal structure and the lattice parameters of the alloys were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry and Rietveld method. Electrochemical properties of the alloys including p-c-t curves, discharge capacity, discharge capacity retention were studied. The results show that (La, Mg)Ni3 and LaNi5 are the main phases of all the alloys. The plateau pressure for hydrogen absorption/desorption decreases and the hydrogen storage capacity firstly increases and subsequently decreases with increasing Co content. The values of the maximum discharge capacity of the alloy electrodes remain in range of 395.3-403.1mA·h/g in spite of the change of Co content. The cycling stability of the alloy electrodes is greatly improved with increasing Co content, which is attributed to the suppression of the cell volume expansion during hydriding, leading the pulverization of the alloy particles lowered and the oxidation/corrosion of the active elements reduced.