Journal of The Electrochemical Society · 1995 · 37 citations · 0 references
EngineeringMaterials EngineeringMaterials ScienceElectrochemical EngineeringElectrochemistryEnergy MaterialsBattery TechnologyBattery TestingElectrochemical CellsElectrochemical Energy StorageElectrode MaterialsEnergy StorageBattery Cell DesignBattery Power DensityEnergy DensityNickel-based BatteriesPower Density
An air‐metal hydride battery (32 Ah) using a noble metal‐free air electrode (300 cm2) was constructed and tested. The battery was charged with a third nickel mesh electrode and discharged using oxygen, with discharge voltages of 0.87 V at 3 A and 0.58 V at 30 A. The peak power was 25 W (83 mW/cm2) with oxygen and 15 W (50 mW/cm2) with air. Energy density and power density per total electrode weight were 120 Wh/kg at 3 A and 75 W/kg at 30 A, respectively. A low initial Wh efficiency (41%) due to a high charging voltage (1.95 V at 6 A) was raised to 58% by replacing the Ni mesh with a sintered nickel electrode (capacity 7.5 Ah). The new battery design (air‐MH‐Ni hybrid) allows two discharge possibilities, the air‐MH couple for low voltage and low rate and the couple for high voltage and high rate discharges.