Effects of vanadium/nickel contents in laves phase-related body-centered-cubic solid solution metal hydride alloys

Abstract

Structural, gaseous phase hydrogen storage, and electrochemical properties of a series of annealed (900 °C for 12 h) Laves phase-related body-centered-cubic (BCC) solid solution metal hydride (MH) alloys with vanadium/nickel (V/Ni) contents ranging from 44/18.5 to 28/34.5 were studied. As the average Ni-content increases, C14 phase evolves into the C15 phase and a new σ-VNi phase emerges; lattice constants in BCC, C14, and TiNi phase all decrease; the main plateau pressure increases; both gaseous phase and electrochemical hydrogen storage capacities decrease; the pressure-concentration-temperature (PCT) absorption/desorption hysteresis decreases; both high-rate dischargeability (HRD) and bulk hydrogen diffusivity increase and then decrease; and the surface reaction current decreases. There is a capacity-rate tradeoff with the change in V/Ni content. Alloys with relatively lower Ni-content show higher capacities but inferior high-rate performance compared to commercially available AB5 MH alloy. Increasing the Ni-content in this BCC-based multi-phase alloy can improve the high-rate capability over AB5 alloy but with lower discharge capacities. The inferior surface reaction current in these alloys, compared to AB5, may be due to the smaller surface area, not the total volume, of the Ni clusters embedded in the surface oxide layer of the activated alloys.