Study on the structure and electrochemical properties of melt-spun Zr0.9Ti0.1(Ni,Co,Mn,V)2.1 alloysElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: data used to plot Fig. 4. See http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/jm/b1/b110297d/

Abstract

The structure and electrochemical properties of Zr0.9Ti0.1(Ni,Co,Mn,V)2.1 alloys prepared by both the melt-spinning method and conventional induction melting are investigated. XRD studies show that Zr0.9Ti0.1(Ni,Co,Mn,V)2.1 alloys at as-cast, melt-spinning and annealing are all face center cubic structures with a Laves C15 phase and the higher the melt-spinning rate, the greater the amorphous content. The electrochemical measurements show that melt-spun alloys have better active behavior and low discharge capacity (<270 mAh g−1). However, after annealing, the alloys are only activated completely after 30 cycles and the capacities (about 340 mAh g−1) are higher than those of as-cast and just melt-spun alloys; the annealed alloys have a better cycle stability than as-cast alloys, and the higher the melt-spinning rate, the more stable the alloy becomes.