Enhanced kinetics of hydrogen electrosorption in AB5 hydrogen storage alloy decorated with Pd nanoparticles

The surface of an AB5 alloy (LaMmNi4.1Al0.3Mn0.4Co0.45) was modified with Pd nanoparticles using a microwave- assisted polyol method. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) were used to characterize the electrochemical behavior of the resulting composite in 6M KOH electrolyte. The microwave-assisted polyol method makes it possible to obtain Pd nanoparticles of irregular shapes and sizes, unevenly distributed on the AB5 surface. CV and CA results showed that the kinetics of hydrogen absorption/desorption processes were enhanced after modification of the AB5 surface with Pd nanoparticles. Furthermore, no electrochemical activation is required in the case of the Pd-modified AB5 alloy.