%0 Journal Article
%T Pulse-Current Electrodeposition for Loading Active Material on Nickel Electrodes for Rechargeable Batteries
%A M. D. Becker
%A G. N. Garaventta
%A A. Visintin
%J ISRN Electrochemistry
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/732815
%X Although the pulse-current electrodeposition method is a commonly used technique, it has not been widely employed in electrode preparation. This method was applied to sintered nickel electrodes in a nickel salt solution containing additives. The active material that was obtained, nickel hydroxide, was studied using different characterization techniques. Electrodes impregnated with pulse current had higher capacity than those impregnated with continuous current. The active material is homogeneous and compact with optimum loading and good performance during discharge. These characteristics would provide a large amount of energy in a short time due to an increase in the electrode kinetic reaction. 1. Introduction Nickel hydroxide has many applications in the positive electrodes of alkaline cells such as nickel cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel hydrogen (Ni-H2), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH), and nickel iron (Ni-Fe) cells [1¨C3]. The chemical pasting of a mixture of active material on a support conductor is used to prepare the positive electrodes of alkaline batteries [4]. This kind of electrode is used in the batteries of mobile phones, mp3s, emergency lights, and electric vehicles. Nickel hydroxide should have a homogeneous particle size and bulk distribution. Two methods are commonly used to obtain this kind of nickel hydroxide: indirect chemical precipitation and direct chemical precipitation. In both cases nickel hydroxide is obtained as a powder that then must be properly prepared to build the electrodes. For the manufacture of nickel hydroxide electrodes for use in high-performance batteries, such as nickel hydrogen batteries used as power source in space satellites, the impregnation technique used consists of the cathodic electrodeposition of sintered nickel plates. There are several variations of this technique such as (i) the Kandler process [5], which includes an electrochemical precipitation stage, working with a 0.3£¿M£¿Ni (NO3)2 solution and an initial pH between 3 and 4, which is adjusted with nitric acid, and (ii) the process developed by Pickett and Maloy [6], which applies the same principle, but using a nickel nitrate solution in alcohol, . These are the impregnation processes that were taken as the basis to develop our technique for the preparation of nickel hydroxide electrodes for high discharge capacity and long service life. The different properties of the electrodes that make them superior are not yet well known in the literature [7¨C9]. When the electrode is charged, nickel hydroxide is oxidized to nickel oxyhydroxide. During discharge the
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.electrochemistry/2013/732815/