Study on the preparation and electrochemical performance of rare earth doped nano-Ni(OH)2

Multiphase nano-Ni(OH)2 doped with Y or La was prepared by supersonic co-precipitation method. The crystal morphology, structure and particle size were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size distribution (PSD). The electrochemical performance of samples was investigated by electrochemical workstation and battery tested system. The results indicated that micro-morphology and grain size were changed with the changing of supersonic power, pH values and doping elements. The morphology of Y doped sample was from the flake-like to the needle-like with the increase of supersonic power; Particles were from quasi-spherical particles into needle-like with the increase of pH values; As the supersonic power increased, the proportion of α-Ni(OH)2 increased initially and then decreased. pH value was very important to the formation of crystalline phase. Lower pH value was beneficial to the formation of α-Ni(OH)2. However, the pH values had a slight effect on the reaction reversibility. Complex electrodes were prepared by mixing 8 wt.% nickel hydroxides with commercial micro-size spherical nickel. The discharge capacity of electrodes increased initially and then decreased with the increase of supersonic power. When the supersonic power was 60 W and the pH value was 9, the sample had the largest discharge capacity (358 mAh/g) at 0.5 C rate, which was 122.7 and 76 mAh/g higher than the spherical nickel electrode and La doped sample electrode, respectively.