Study on High Rate Discharge Performance and Mechanism of AB_5 Type Hydrogen Storage Alloys

The effects of surface treatment, particle size distribution,rare earth composition and B additive on the high rate discharge performance of hydrogen storage alloys were investigated. It is found that the activity, discharge capacity and high rate dischargeability of the alloys are improved after physical and chemical modification as a result of the increase of the surface area and formation of the electrocatalysis layers, which increase both the electrochemical reaction rate on the alloy surface and H diffusion rate in the alloy bulk. It is also found that both the over-coarse and over-fine particle size increase the contact resistance of the electrode, resulting in a decrease of discharge capacity, deterioration of high rate dischargeability and lower discharge plateau. In another word, a suitable particle size distribution can enhance the alloy activity, discharge capacity and high rate dischargeability. In addition, the high rate dischargeability is enhanced by increasing La content and decreasing Ce content of the alloy composition because of enlargement of the unit cell volume and the improvement of the surface activity. Moreover, B additive resultes in the formation of the second phase, and makes the alloys easier pulverization, which greatly improves the activity, discharge capacity and high rate dischargeability.

Novel High Rate Lithium Intercalation Cathode Materials

Application of amorphous V2O5/carbon/ncodymium oxide （Nd2O3） composite is one ot ways to surmount me lower electrical conductivity of V2O5. A new type of V2O5/carbon/Nd2O3 composite was prepared by mixing vanadium oxide hydrosol, acetone, carbon and Nd2O3 powder. High rate discharge/charge property of the composite electrode was tested electrochemically. This composite with Nd2O3 added shows the improvement of not only the discharge capacity but also cycle durability discharge capacity. The rate capability of the composite cathode also increases with the addition of Nd2O3. Even at 10 A·g^-1 current density, a capacity of about 250 mAh·g^-1 was obtained at 25 ℃. This enhanced rate capability and cycle life are probably caused by the increase in porosity of open pores and short diffusion length of the active material on the lithium-ion insertion.

Microstructure and electrochemical properties of La0.8-xMMxMg0.2Ni3.1Co0.3Al0.1(x=0,0.1,0.2,0.3)alloys

The present study aims to improve electrochemical properties of the La-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloys through partial substitution for La by mischmetal（MM）.The La_（0.8-x）MM_xMg_（0.2）Ni_（3.1）Co_（0.3）Al_（0.1）（x=0,0.1,0.2,0.3）alloys were prepared by inductive melting,and their phase structures and electrochemical properties were studied by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,scanning electron microscope（SEM）,energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry（EDX）and electrochemical tests.Results show that the alloys mainly consist of La_2Ni_7-type phase,La_5Ni_（19）-type phase,LaNi_5-type phase and LaNi_3-type phase.The addition of MM does not change the phase compositions,while it leads to more uniform phase distribution and obviously promotes the formation of La_2Ni_7-type phase which possesses favorable electrochemical properties.Electrochemical studies indicate that the substitution for La by MM could effectively improve the high rate dischargeability（HRD）of the alloy electrode,and the optimal value of HRD_（1500）（HRD at 1500 mA·g^（-1））increases from 40.63%（x=0）to 60.55%（x=0.3）.Although the activation properties of the alloy electrodes keep almost unchanged,both the maximum discharge capacity（C_（max））and the cycling stability are significantly improved by MM addition.