Effects of Ball-Milling Duration on Microstructure and Electrochemical Characteristics of Mg2-xZrxNi(x=0–0.6) Electrode Alloys

Abstract The Mg2Ni-type electrode alloys Mg2-xZrxNi (x=0, 0.15, 0.3, 0.45 and 0.6) were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) with different ball-milling duration. The microstructures and the electrochemical characteristics of the experimental alloys were tested and measured systemically. The effects of ball-milling duration on the microstructures and electrochemical performances of the alloys were investigated in detail. The results obtained by XRD and TEM show that the amorphous phase in the alloy increases with prolonging of ball-milling duration. The electrochemical measurements indicate that the cycle stability and the discharge potential characteristics of the alloys are markedly improved with prolonging of ball-milling duration. The effect of the ball-milling duration on the discharge capacity of the alloys is dependent on their composition. For x≤0.3, the discharge capacity of the alloys mono-tonically increases with prolonging of milling duration. But for x>0.3, it has a maximum value with the change of milling duration.