Electrode reactions during electrolytic preparation of nickel hydroxide

We investigate the electrode reactions involved in the electrolytic precipitation of nickel hydroxide from nickel nitrate through quantitative assessment of the reaction products using stainless steel cathode with Ti and Ni anodes. The nitrate ion is reduced at the cathode to form nitrite and ammonium ion, the later being the major product. The production of ammonium ion followed either directly via reduction of nitrate to ammonium ion or in steps via nitrate reduction to nitrite which further reduced to ammonium ion. Finally, we report XRD measurements, tap density, and the discharge capacity performed on the electrolytically precipitated Ni(OH)2.