Effect of cobalt content on electrochemical performance of La-Mg-Ni system (Ce2Ni7-type) electrode alloys

In order to improve the cyclic stability of La-Mg-Ni system (Ce2Ni7-type) alloy electrode, small amount of Co was added in La0.75Mg0.25Ni3.5 alloy. The effect of Co on electrochemical performance and microstructure of the alloys were investigated in detail. XRD results showed that the alloys had multiphase structure composed of (La, Mg)2Ni7, LaNi5 and small amount of LaNi2 phases. The discharge capacity of the alloys first increased and then decreased with increasing Co content. At a discharge current density of 900 mA/g, the HRD of the alloy electrodes increased from 81.3% (x=0) to 89.2 % (x=0.2), and then reduced to 87.8 % (x=0.6). After 60 charge/discharge cycles, the capacity retention rate of the alloys enhanced from 52.67% to 61.32%, and the capacity decay rate of the alloys decreased from 2.60 to 2.05 mAh/g per cycle with increasing Co content. The obtained results by XPS and XRD showed that the fundamental reasons for the capacity decay of the La-Mg-Ni system (Ce2Ni7-type) alloy electrodes were corrosion and oxidation as well as passivation of Mg and La in alkaline solution.