Metal hydride electrodes prepared by mechanical alloying of ZrV2-type materials

The structural and electrochemical properties of a range of alloys, including: ZrV2 and ZrV2/Ni (10 wt% Ni), which have the cubic C15 type structure and Zr0.35Ti0.65V0.85Cr0.26Ni1.30, which has the hexagonal C14 type structure, have been investigated. These alloys have been prepared using mechanical alloying (MA) followed by annealing. The amorphous phase forms directly from the starting mixture of the elements, without other phase formation. Heating the MA samples at 1070 K for 1 h resulted in the creation of ordered ZrV2-type alloys. In mechanically alloyed, amorphous ZrV2, ZrV2/Ni materials and Zr0.35Ti0.65V0.85Cr0.26Ni1.30 material discharge capacities of 0, 38 and 90 mAhg(-1), were obtained, respectively. Annealed nanocrystalline powders have greater capacities than the amorphous parent materials. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science BN. All rights reserved.