In a recent collaboration, a research team developed a hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst that minimizes degradation caused by reverse current in alkaline water electrolysis systems. The team consists of Professor Yong-Tae Kim, Dr. Sang-Mun Jung, and Yoona Kim, an MSc, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and is led by Professor Jeong Woo Han from Seoul National University. Their research was published as a cover paper in the journal Advanced Functional Materials on July 3. The electricity generated from the renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal are not constant; it fluctuates with weather and climate conditions. To harness and utilize this energy, it must be reliably stored and delivered to the grid, and hydrogen plays a crucial role in this process.
The Nickel-Zinc Binary System
Phase Poll #13 concluded yesterday with a pretty even split between the two elements. Nickel got slightly more votes with 51.5%, and zinc slightly less with 48.5%. Before we move into the properties and applications of nickel-zinc alloys, let’s talk a little about what we’ve already learned about phase diagrams.
From the left and right sides, we can see that zinc is fairly soluble in nickel, but that nickel is not soluble in zinc. We can also tell, without knowing anything about the periodic table, that zinc and nickel are close to each other, given that the atomic and weight percents are fairly similar. Despite their proximity on the periodic table though, we can see from the phase diagram they have vastly different melting temperatures, with zinc melting at over 1000°C less than nickel.
The primary application of this binary system is in corrosion-resistant coatings. While pure zinc coatings were once more common, small amounts of nickel help to increase the corrosion resistance. These coatings usually contain around 85% zinc or 15% nickel, resulting in the γ phase shown in the above diagram. Not only does this phase provide better corrosion resistance, but it is more ductile as well, allowing for easier coating. However, nickel remains much more expensive than zinc, limiting applications of such coatings.
The middle of the phase diagram is less well studied, and alloys with equal parts nickel and zinc are uncommon. It is known that the β1 phase crystalizes with a CuAu type structure.
Sources/Further reading: ( 1 - image 1 ) ( 2 - image 2 ) ( 3 - images 3 and 4 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 )
More phase diagrams: ( mole fraction ) ( mole fraction and mass fraction )