Nickel/metal hydride batteries are attractive from the standpoint of environmental considerations, their inherent safety and good performance characteristics Presently available Ni/M-H batteries have an energydensity of 55 Wh/kg and 178 Wh/L, two to three times that of Ni-Cd batteries. Present state of the art batteries utilize metal hydrides, containing 1-1.1 wt % hydrogen. Development efforts are in progress in many laboratories to develop nickel/metal hydride batteries which have a very long cycle life. Technochem Company has developed a metal hydride alloy whose crystal lattice parameters remain invariant before and after subjecting the alloy to hydriding and dehydriding cycles This alloy potentially can yield a high stable capacity and extremely long cycle life. By developing these types of reversible metal alloy hydridesof > 1.3 wt% hydrogen storage capacity and appropriate battery designand engineering, the energy density of this system can be enhanced to>100 Wh/kg and 300 Wh/L, meeting the DoD requirements for many applications in communications and man-portable electronic devices. The proposed Phase I program will (i) research novel metal hydride materials with > 1.35 wt% hydrogen capacity, (ii) establish reversibility and stability and (ii) demonstrate at the cell prototype level superior nickel/metal hydride battery characteristics. The Phase II program will involve design, development, fabrication, and testing of battery prototypes for the identified DoD applications.
Benefits: Nickel/metal hydride batteries with performance characteristics of 100 Wh/kg, 240 Wh/L and 200 W/kg will have DoD applications for robotic vehicles and communications. The commercial applications will include power sources for tools, uninterrupted power supplies, and remote telecommunications. Larger batteries may also be used for electric vehicles, utility load leveling, solar energy storage.
