Influence of electroless coatings of Cu, Ni-P and Co-P on MmNi3.25Al0.35Mn0.25Co0.66 alloy used as anodes in Ni-MH batteries

Electroless coatings of Ni-P, Co-P and Cu were applied on the surface of non-stoichiometric MmNi3.25Al0.35Mn0.25Co0.66 (Mm: misch metal) metal hydride alloy. Elemental analysis was made with Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDAX). The structural analysis of bare and coated alloys was done by X-ray diffraction (XRD) whereas surface morphology was examined with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The electrode characteristics inclusive of electrochemical capacity and cycle life were studied at C/5 rate. Superior performance is obtained with copper coated alloy. Microstructure observations indicate that the observed excellent performance could be attributed to uniform and efficient surface coverage with copper. Also, lanthanum surface enrichment in samples during Cu coating leads to improvement in performance. It is inferred from electro analytical investigations that copper coatings act as microcurrent collectors with alterations in hydrogen transport mechanism and facilitate charge transfer reaction on the alloy surface without altering battery properties. Moreover, supportive first time TEM evidence of existence of such copper nano current collectors (about 8 nm in diameter and length about 20 nm) is reported.