Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Chihiro Fujisawa

Takuya Tamagawa

Yoichiro Shibata

Makoto Ochi

Kazuki Shimozono

Katsuya Ito

Kohei Karasumi

Atsuya Furuichi

Yasushiro Kudo

A sintered substrate is configured such that pores having a pore size (pore radius) of from 5 &#x3bc;m to 7 &#x3bc;m have a peak volume fraction with respect to the total pore volume of the sintered substrate, and pores having a pore radius of greater than 8.5 &#x3bc;m has a volume fraction of 11% or less with respect to the total pore volume of the sintered substrate. The sintered substrate has a smaller number of large-sized pores than conventional sintered substrates and a more uniform pore size distribution, and therefore shows a sufficient strength even when the porosity is increased. In addition, a cadmium negative electrode employing the sintered substrate shows excellent gas absorption capability and therefore can reduce the internal pressure of the battery during charge.

Sintered substrate and alkaline storage battery using the substrate

A nickel electrode for an alkaline storage battery is made by filling a conductive porous member with an active material including a main active material layer substantially made of nickel hydroxide and containing cobalt in a state of a solid solution, and a compound layer containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of calcium, aluminum, strontium, scandium, yttrium, and lanthanoide series, the compound layer being formed on a surface of the main active material layer. A metal molar ratio of cobalt contained in the main active material layer to nickel contained in the main active material layer is in a range of 0.5% to 3.0%, and a metal molar ratio of the at least one element contained in the compound layer to nickel contained in the active material is in a range of 0.3% to 5.0%.

Nickel electrode for alkaline storage battery and method of manufacturing the same

A method of producing a nickel electrode for an alkaline storage battery, comprising: an active-material loading step comprising preparing an active-material loaded plate electrode by loading an active-material containing nickel hydroxide as its principal component into the pores of said porous electrically conductive substrate; an immersion step comprising immersing said active-material loaded plate electrode into an impregnation solution comprising an acid salt solution containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ca, Sr, Sc, Y, Al, Mn, and lanthanides; and an alkali treatment step comprising forming a hydroxide layer on the surface of the electrode plate by converting the acid salt into a hydroxide by immersing said plate electrode into an alkaline solution; provided that the temperature of the impregnation solution is controlled in a range of from 40 to 90&deg; C., and that the pH value of impregnating solution is controlled to a range of from 4 to 6. Thus, it is provided a nickel electrode free from a drop in battery capacity and yet having excellent high temperature characteristics by controlling the amount of elution of the loaded active material even when immersed in an acid salt solution.

Method of producing nickel electrode for alkaline storage batteries

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Osaka, Japan

Chihiro Fujisawa