Influence of cobalt and manganese content on the dehydrogenation capacity and kinetics of air-exposed LaNi5+x-type alloys in solid gas and electrochemical reactions

The effect of cobalt and manganese content on the dehydrogenation properties of air-exposed MmB5+x-type (Mm=mischmetal; B=Ni, Al, Co and Mn) alloys was investigated both in solid gas and electrochemical reactions. The cobalt and manganese content were varied separately while keeping constant the plateau pressure of the hydrides. The increase of the cobalt content leads to a decrease of the hydrogen capacity whereas the manganese content has no much effect. In solid gas reactions, the kinetics were found to be limited by the hydrogen diffusion through the surface oxidation layer. As for the electrochemistry, the kinetics are limited by a corrosion layer formed in alkaline medium. The desorption rates for both processes increase as the cobalt or manganese content decreases. This is thought to be due to an enhancement of the hydrogen diffusivity through the oxidation layer. As a result, a low cobalt or manganese content in MmB5+x alloys is found to be beneficial for the hydrogen desorption kinetics in both processes.