A sealed, starved-electrolyte nickel?iron battery

Abstract

A sealed, starved-electrolyte, negative-limited 6 V/1 Ah laboratory prototype of a nickel–iron (Ni–Fe) battery comprising five cells stacked in series with ceria-supported platinum as hydrogen–oxygen recombinant catalyst was assembled. The battery was tested under various operational conditions. While a continuous increase in gaseous pressure in the cells was observed without the recombinant catalyst, the cells with the recombinant catalyst registered a decline in gaseous pressure subsequent to the onset of hydrogen–oxygen recombination. The battery showed little decay in its capacity during its life-cycle tests conducted at C/5 rate at 25°C. The battery performance is superior to its conventional vented-counterpart.