THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHROMIUM-VANADIUM RATIO ON THE HYDROGEN ABSORPTION BEHAVIOR OF MULTICOMPONENT ZIRCONIUM BASED AB2 ALLOYS

PERETTI, H.; CORSO, H.; ANDRADE GAMBOA, J.; MOGNI, L.; VISINTIN, A.; TRIACA, W.

Montreal, Canada

Conferencia; 14th World Hydrogen Energy Conferency (WHEC); 2002

The Canadian Hydrogen Association and the National Hydrogen Association in the United States

Recent developments on new electrode materials for nickel-metal hydride batteries include Laves phases based on ZrCr2 with multiple substitutions to improve the electrode performance. In this work, results on the hydrogen absorption behavior of the Zr0.9Ti0.1NiMn0.5CrxV0.5-x alloy (with 0 < x < 0.5) determined by volumetric and electrochemical techniques are presented. The structural and morphologic characterization of the alloy is also studied by XRD and SEM-EDS. The (PCT) curves show a high hydrogen storage capacity (H/FU aprox. 3.6), and a steep slope instead of a horizontal plateau corresponding to the two-phase equilibrium. Electrode activation was achieved by voltammetric cycling between preset potentials in alkaline solution. Discharge capacities of about 340 mAh/g are found for high Cr/V content ratios.