Determination of the hydrogen coefficient diffusion DH in the MmNi3.55Mn0.4Al0.3Co0.75-xFex (0 ≤ x ≤0.75) electrodes alloys by cyclic voltammetry

Abstract

The hydrogen storage alloys MmNi3.55Mn0.4Al0.3Co0.75-xFex (0 ≤ x ≤0.75) were used as negative electrodes in the Ni-MH accumulators. The chronopotentiommetry and the cyclic voltammetry were applied to characterize the electrochemical properties of these alloys. The obtained results showed that the substitution of the cobalt atoms by iron atoms has a good effect on the life cycle of the electrode. The discharge capacity reaches its maximum in MmNi3.55Mn0.4Al0.3Co0.75-x Fex ( x = 0, 0.15, 0.35, 0.55 and 0.75) are, respectively, equal to 270, 266, 260, 210 and 200 mAh/g after 12 charge-discharge cycles. The diffusion behaviour of hydrogen in the negative electrodes made from these alloys was characterized by cyclic voltammetry after few activation cycles. The values of the hydrogen coefficient in MmNi3.55Mn0.4Al0.3Co0.75-x Fex ( x = 0, 0.15, 0.35, 0.55 and 0.75) are, respectively, equal to 5.86 10-10, 1.95 10-9, 3.44 10-9, 2.96 10-9 and 4.98 10-10 cm2 s-1. However, the values of the charge transfer coefficients are respectively equal to 0.35, 0.6, 0.5, 0.33 and 0.3. These results showed that the substitution of cobalt by iron decreases the reversibility and the kinetic of the electrochemical reaction in these alloys.