Electrochemical performance of the rare-earth perovskite-type oxide La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 as negative electrode material for Ni/oxide rechargeable batteries

Abstract

In this paper, the perovskite-type oxide La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3 was evaluated as a novel negative electrode material for Ni/oxide rechargeable batteries. The structure and morphology of the as-prepared powder was studied by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical performance of the perovskite-type oxide was investigated using chronopotentiometric, chronoamperometric and potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The maximum discharge capacity values of the perovskite-type electrodes were obtained during the first three cycles (51, 172 and 462 mAh g−1 at 298, 313 and 333 K, respectively). The maximum adsorption capability of hydrogen in the perovskite-type electrode was 1.72% wt. hydrogen at a current rate of 125 mA g−1, 333 K and 6 M KOH. The cycling ability was fairly good with 64% capacity conservation after 20 cycles at 333 K. The electrochemical evaluation was also performed using different electrolyte concentrations; interestingly, the maximum discharge capacity of the perovskite-type electrodes increased in a linear-like manner with the incremental changes in electrolyte concentration. The hydrogen diffusion coefficient and exchange current density were also estimated to discuss the kinetics of the process.