Research Projects

Rechargeable batteries, particularly nickel-metal hydride Ni-MH batteries, are widely used in hybrid electric vehicles, power tools, and military devices due to their safety, reliability, adaptability to temperature changes, and environmental characteristics. However, these batteries have a low gravimetric energy density compared to lithium-ion batteries. To improve their performance, researchers are exploring alloys with metal hydrides to improve the energy density of Ni-MH batteries. The project focuses on existing and new ZrV2-based materials with different amounts of modifiers, such as Ti or Ni. The researchers will investigate the influence of modifiers on the local electronic structure of these alloys using the technique of time differential perturbed angular correlations TDPAC in combination with theoretical DFT calculations. The TDPAC method is a new experimental approach to these materials, using local probe-ions to measure the electronic properties of the system. The aim is to establish a database that can identify the most desirable ways to improve the hydrogen properties of these alloys for technological applications in rechargeable batteries.