Production of New Rare Earth Hydrogen Storage Alloy Starts in China

A production line of new rare earth hydrogen storage alloy electrode materials located in the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has been put into operation in China. The production line was built with independent intellectual property rights.

Relying on the advantages of rare earth resources and the latest core technology applications, the line produces a new type of hydrogen storage alloy, a key material for nickel metal hydride power batteries, for supply to domestic battery companies.

"The production line has a production capacity of 200 tons. Compared with traditional substances, the new material has a higher hydrogen storage capacity of 30 percent. It is also safer and can be used at a temperature of minus 40 degrees Celsius," Xiao Ming, the person in charge of the Production Technology Department, introduced.

As a new rare earth hydrogen storage alloy production line with independent intellectual property rights in my country, this new electrode product will be used to prepare nickel-metal hydride power batteries. Due to its large capacity, low temperature resistance and more environmentally friendly characteristics than nickel-cadmium batteries. As the safer advantages of lithium batteries, it can be widely used in hybrid batteries for automobiles, as well as solid-state hydrogen storage and hydrogen fuel cells.

According to reports, the product is derived from the alloy preparation technology of Yanshan University. Through the matching between the phase structure of the rare earth magnesium-nickel-based hydrogen storage alloy and the electrochemical hydrogen storage performance, the research team developed new RE-Mg-Ni-based hydrogen storage alloy products with different advantages.

Rare earth hydrogen storage materials mainly use nickel and rare earth metals as raw materials. About one-third of the production raw materials used are light rare earth metals, which are the most abundant lanthanum and cerium elements.

The market for rare earth hydrogen storage alloy storage materials in this production line will play a positive role in promoting the full utilization of our country's light rare earth resources. With the realization of localization, the product not only has low prices, but also digests the lanthanum and cerium produced by the northern rare earths on the spot, which will greatly increase the added value of rare earth materials.

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