Influence of replacement of cobalt by tin and copper on microstructure and electrical properties of LaMgAlMnCoNi based alloys

In this work, it has firstly been evaluated the effect of tin (Sn) and copper (Cu) substituting cobalt (Co) in LaMgAlMnCoNi AB5-type alloys for use in hydrogen storage materials and negative electrodes of Ni-MH batteries. The influence of this substitution on the microstructure of these materials has been evaluated. It could be noted that increasing the tin concentration promotes the formation of LaNiSn phase and decrease of two main phases of these alloys: LaNi5 and (La,Mg)Ni3. Additionally, the Rietveld refinement has been evaluated to quantify phases in each composition. Subsequently, it has been proposed a study of the hydrogen absorption in these alloys. It could be observed that the cobalt alloy showed the best hydrogen absorption capacity. Moreover, the behavior of these alloys has been investigated in the discharge capacity, cyclic stability and high rate dischargeability of Ni-MH batteries. The highest discharge capacity has been measured for cobalt alloy, reaching 337.1 mAh/g. It has been noted, further improvement in the cyclic stability batteries with increasing copper content in the alloys. Furthermore, it has been observed that the high rate dischargeability has better values with the addition of copper in the composition. Finally, it has been evaluated the effect of susceptibility to corrosion. It has been noted that tin promotes an increase in corrosion resistance of the alloys in an alkaline electrolyte. (author)