Effect of Pd/Mn Substitution on Characteristics of Amorphous Zr-Ni-Ti-V Alloy Hydride Electrodes

Abstract

ABSTRACTHydrogenation properties of some amorphous Zr-Ni-Ti-V based alloys were investigated. Pressure-composition(P-C) isotherms and hydrogen storage capacities at room temperatures were measured and effects of elemental substitution of the components with Pd or Mn were studied. The alloy electrodes were prepared by using amorphous (Zr-Ni-Ti-V)-(Pd,Mn) alloys prepared by the melt spinning method. The amorphous alloys in the electrode kept their amorphous structures during cycles of charge and discharge. The electrochemical hydrogen storage capacities were strongly affected by the substitution amounts of Pd or Mn. Even a small amount of substitution, changed the equilibrium dissociation pressures of the alloy. In the present study, the rechargeable capacity was optimized up to H/M=0.5 for the alloy electrode with the composition of (Zr45Ni30Ti25)-3at%Pd. The slope in the P-C isotherm suggested that the maximum H/M of the alloy would exceed 1.0 at higher hydrogen pressure than 1.0 MPa, however, the wide distribution of hydrogen site energy in the amorphous hydride resulted in extremely large slope in P-C isotherms, and consequently restricted the rechargeable capacities of the electrodes.