Abstract:As the anode material of Ni-MH batteries, the hydrogen storage alloy largely determines the performance of Ni-MH batteries. The corrosion or oxidation layer on its surface not only causes the cycle life of the alloy electrode to be greatly decayed, but also has a great impact on the high-magnification performance, thus limiting the application of NiMH batteries in the fields of high power and extreme environments. Based on the above reasons, researchers prepared the active layer of transition metal sulfide with high electrocatalytic activity as well as good electrical conductivity and strong bonding on the surface of alloy electrode by various methods, which can significantly improve the electrochemical performance of alloy electrode. Based on the research of the group, a new La-Y-Ni annealed alloy La0.25Nd0.2Y0.55Ni16.1Co1.5Mn0.9Al0.9 of type A5B19 was prepared, and Ni3S2@MoS2 was successfully grown in situ on the alloy surface by hydrothermal treatment at different temperatures. The effects of Ni3S2@MoS2 on the phase composition, hydrogen storage properties and electrochemical properties of the alloy were investigated by XRD, SEM/EDS, XPS and electrochemical methods. The results showed that the activation performance of the alloy electrode decreased with the increase of hydrothermal treatment time, and the cycle life and high multiplicity performance improved to different degrees, and the cycle life S100=92% was the highest improvement at 120℃ treatment compared with S100=85.9% at untreated condition, and the high multiplicity performance HRD1800=65.8% at 160℃ treatment (HRD1800=37.3% under untreated condition), which reached the maximum. The in situ growth of Ni3S2/MoS2 on the surface of the hydrogen storage alloy not only improves the corrosion resistance of the alloy surface, but also enhances the high-magnification discharge performance of the alloy electrode. This new cost-effective sulfidation method makes it possible to apply Ni-MH batteries in high power areas and extreme environments.
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