The effects of partial substitution of Cr for Ni on the electrochemical properties of Mg_(1.75)Al_(0.25)Ni_(1-x)Cr_x (0 < = x < - 0.3) electrode alloys

摘要

In this paper, the substitution of different amounts of Cr for Ni in the hydrogen storage electrode alloy of Mg_(1.75)Al_(0.25)Ni has been earned out to form quaternary Mg_(1.75)Al_(0.25)Ni_(1-x)Cr_x (0 < = x < - 0.3) alloys by means of solid diffusion method (DM). The XRD profiles exhibited that the quaternary alloys still kept the same main phase of Mg_3AlNi_2 (S.G. Fd3m) as that of ternary Mg_(1.75)Al_(0.25)Ni alloy. The electrochemical studies found that Cr substituted quaternary alloy reached its maximum discharge capacity (165 mAh g~(-1)) after 2 cycles, which was larger than that of the Mg_(1.75)Al_(0.25)Ni alloy (154 mAh g~(-1)). Among these quaternary alloys, the Mg_(1.75)Al_(0.25)Ni_(0.9)Cr_(0.1) electrode alloy was found possessing the highest cycling capacity retention rate. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) results and anodic polarization curves demonstrated that appropriate content (x lower than 0.1) of Cr effectively improved the reaction activity of electrode and inhibited the cycling capacity degradation to some degree. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analyses indicated that the increase of Cr content would raise the polarization resistance R_p on the particle surface of these quaternary alloys.