A sealed, starved-electrolyte nickel-iron battery

A sealed, starved-electrolyte, negative-limited 6 V/1 Ah laboratory prototype of a nickel-iron (Ni-Fe) battery comprising five cells stacked in series with ceria-supported platinum as hydrogen-oxygen recombinant catalyst was assembled. The battery was tested under various operational conditions. While a continuous increase in gaseous pressure in the cells was observed without the recombinant catalyst, the cells with the recombinant catalyst registered a decline in gaseous pressure subsequent to the onset of hydrogen-oxygen recombination. The battery showed little decay in its capacity during its life-cycle tests conducted at C/5 rate at 25degreesC. The battery performance is superior to its conventional vented-counterpart.