Nickel Electrode Nanoporous Coating Adhesion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional nickel electrodes face challenges in achieving strongly adherent, high-surface-area layers without high contact pressure and elevated temperatures, which hampers their mechanical stability and gas transport during water electrolysis.
Innovation Solution
A nickel electrode with a layer of spherical, nanoporous nickel particles applied to electrically conductive nickel meshes or expanded metals using a method involving partial reduction of nickel hydroxide particles, followed by paste application and annealing at reduced temperatures, ensuring strong adhesion and high surface area without closing mesh openings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional sintering processes are used to produce nickel layers, then strong adhesion is achieved, but the process requires high contact pressure and elevated temperatures making it elaborate and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the temperature parameter from conventional sintering temperatures (800-1000°C) to a lower temperature range (200-400°C), and modifies the atmospheric parameters by introducing specific chemical agents (ammonium salts, hydrazine salts) that enable adhesion at reduced temperatures, thereby simplifying the process while maintaining strong adhesion
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces intermediary substances (ammonium salts or hydrazine salts) that act as mediators between the nickel particles and the substrate, enabling strong adhesion through chemical interaction at lower temperatures without requiring high contact pressure, thus avoiding the complexity of conventional sintering equipment
2Productivity
If high surface area nickel layers are produced to enhance productivity, then gas transport is improved, but mechanical stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs porous nickel particles with controlled pore structures that provide high internal surface area for enhanced electrolysis productivity while maintaining mechanical stability through the porous network architecture that distributes stress and prevents structural collapse
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite structure combining nickel particles with binder materials that form a mechanically stable matrix while maintaining high surface area through the porous nickel particle architecture, achieving both productivity and mechanical stability
3Strength
If mesh openings are closed to increase surface area, then adhesion improves, but gas transport is severely hampered
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by ensuring that the nickel particle coating is applied selectively and uniformly on the wire surfaces while deliberately maintaining open mesh openings in specific locations, creating different functional zones: coated areas for adhesion and uncoated areas for gas transport
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses porous nickel particles that provide high surface area through their internal pore structure rather than by closing external mesh openings, allowing gas transport through the mesh while maintaining adhesion through the porous particle architecture
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The resulting nickel electrodes exhibit enhanced mechanical stability, increased gas evolution, and improved productivity in water electrolysis due to their high internal surface area and low contact resistance, while maintaining open mesh structures for efficient gas transport.
Implementation Method 1
b) partially reducing the spherical nickel hydroxide particles in a reducing atmosphere at temperatures of 270 to 330° C. in order to obtain partially reduced, spherical Ni/NiO particles
Implementation Method 2
e) annealing the coated nickel mesh or nickel expanded metal in a reducing atmosphere at temperatures of 500 to 800° C.
Implementation Method 3
annealing the coated nickel mesh or nickel expanded metal in a reducing atmosphere
Data Source
AI summary
Nickel electrodes having high mechanical stability and advantageous electrochemical properties, in particular, enhanced gas evolution in water electrolysis, are described. These electrodes comprising electrically conductive nickel wire mesh or a lattice-like nickel expanded metal webs, and a layer of mutually adherent nanoporous nickel particles applied only to either the nickel mesh wires or the nickel expanded metal webs, obtainable by partially reducing the spherical nickel hydroxide particles in a reducing atmosphere between 270 to 330° C. to obtain partially reduced, spherical Ni/NiO particles, producing a paste from the Ni/NiO particles, an organic and/or inorganic binder, a surfactant and, optionally, additional adjuvants, applying the paste as a coating to the electrically conductive nickel mesh or nickel expanded metal, and annealing the coated nickel mesh or nickel expanded metal in a reducing atmosphere at 500 to 800° C. A method for manufacturing the nickel electrode is also described.