Modified electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy

Abstract

An electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy including an oxide surface having metallic catalytic particles distributed throughout, wherein said metallic catalytic particles have an average particle size of 10-40 Angstroms in size.

1 . An electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy comprising an oxide surface having metallic catalytic particles distributed throughout, wherein said metallic catalytic particles have an average particle size of 10-40 Angstroms in size.  
     
     
         2 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said metallic catalytic particles include particles that are surrounded by oxide.  
     
     
         3 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said metallic catalytic particles are from 10-30 Angstroms in size.  
     
     
         4 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said metallic catalytic particles are from 10-20 Angstroms in size.  
     
     
         5 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said metallic catalytic particles are Ni-Mn-Co-Ti alloy catalytic particles.  
     
     
         6 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said metallic catalytic particles are finely dispersed in said oxide from 10-20 Angstroms apart.  
     
     
         7 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said metallic catalytic particles include particles that have a face centered cubic crystalline structure.  
     
     
         8 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said oxide comprises multivalent MnO x .  
     
     
         9 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said oxide comprises an oxide of Mn and Ni.  
     
     
         10 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said oxide comprises an oxide of Mn, Ni, Co, Ti and optionally Fe, if Fe is present in the alloy.  
     
     
         11 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said oxide comprises an oxide of Mn, Co and Ti.  
     
     
         12 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said oxide comprises mixed fine and coarse grained oxides.  
     
     
         13 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said alloy comprises Al, Co, and Sn.  
     
     
         14 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 13 , further comprising 0.1 to 10.0% Al, 0.1 to 10.0% Co, 0 to 3.5% Fe and 0.1 to 3.0% Sn.  
     
     
         14 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 13 , comprising, in atomic percentage, Ti 9.0%, Zr 26.2%, V 5.0%, Ni 38.0%, Cr 3.5%, Co 1.5%, Mn 15.6%, Al 0.4%, and Sn 0.8%.  
     
     
         16 . The electrochemical hydrogen storage alloy of  claim 1 , wherein said oxide surface comprises TiZr oxide, face centered cubic nickel particles, and regions of NiCoMnTi, said TiZr oxide, face centered cubic nickel particles, and regions of NiCoMnTi interacting to form a super lattice which promotes ionic diffusion and reaction.