Performance characterization of sintered iron electrodes in nickel/iron alkaline batteries

A nickel/iron storage battery with a porous, sintered, iron negative electrode and a nickel positive electrode is a high power system by virtue of its low internal resistance. A dry-powder sintering procedure is used to fabricate negative and positive electrodes. Negative iron electrodes are activated with various salt solutions such as CdSO4, BaCl2, HgCl2 and sulfur. Positive electrodes are impregnated with nickel hydroxide by a chemical method. Tests are performed in 10 Ah capacity nickel/iron cells and two types of activated iron electrodes are used. The present work deals with electrode fabrication, charge/discharge studies, self-discharge, temperature performance and cycle life. Finally, the best iron electrodes are coupled with nickel electrodes to obtain a 1.37 V, 75 Ah nickel/iron cell. The performance of this cell is discussed.