Electrochemical characterization of mechanically alloyed LaCaMgNi 9 compound

The performance of a nickel–metal hydride (Ni–MH) battery mainly depends on the characteristics of the negative electrode. The electrochemical characteristics of mechanically alloyed compound LaCaMgNi 9 , including the discharge capacity and the hydrogen diffusion coefficient, were studied as function of mechanical alloying (MA) conditions. The electrochemical measurements show that the LaCaMgNi 9 electrode has a maximum discharge capacity of about 150 mAh/g at a discharge rate of C/3. The hydrogen discharge capacity dramatically decreases as MA duration exceeds 20 h.