The birth of Ni-MH battery should be attributed to the discovery of hydrogen storage alloy. As early as the end of 1960s, people discovered a new functional material hydrogen storage alloy, which can absorb and release a large amount of hydrogen under certain temperature and pressure conditions, so it has been widely used.
It is vividly called "hydrogen absorption sponge". Some hydrogen storage alloys can be repeatedly charged and discharged in strong alkaline electrolyte solution and exist stably for a long time, thus providing us with a new negative electrode material, and on this basis, nickel-hydrogen batteries were invented. The main source of hydrogen storage alloy is rare earth, and China's rare earth resources account for more than 70% of the world's total reserves, so the development of Ni-MH battery has unique advantages. Therefore, the research and development of Ni-MH battery in China has been strongly supported by the National 863 Program and is listed as a "top priority" project.
Driven by the 863 Program "Ni-MH battery industrialization" project, China's Ni-MH battery and related materials industry has grown from scratch, achieving the goal of catching up with the world's advanced level.
At the beginning of the project, the domestic nickel-hydrogen battery industry was still blank. According to China's national conditions, China's scientific research institutions and enterprises have cooperated hand in hand, concentrated their advantages and jointly tackled key problems, and independently completed the development of a complete set of production technology and corresponding technical equipment for the pilot production demonstration line of nickel-hydrogen batteries. And in Guangdong, Liaoning, Tianjin and other places, we have established pilot bases, industrialization demonstration bases and a number of related material production bases for nickel-hydrogen batteries. It laid a foundation for the industrialization of Ni-MH battery in China and made the production of Ni-MH battery in China catch up with the world level quickly.
With the support of the "863 Program", researchers have overcome key technologies such as the preparation of hydrogen storage alloys and achieved a large number of innovative results. Among them, the "Impact Grinding Process under the Protection of Inert Gas" developed by San Pu Battery Co., Ltd. has reached the international advanced level, and the hydrogen storage alloy powder produced has reached the international level of similar products. During the implementation of the industrialization project of Ni-MH battery, we obtained 15 patents for invention and utility model, and formulated more than 50 standards and testing methods for Ni-MH battery. It has contributed to the upgrading of battery products and the development and utilization of rare earth resources in China.
Through the implementation of this project, the equipment level of Ni-MH battery in China has been greatly improved, from manual operation in the past to continuous automatic batch production, which has obviously improved the uniformity and comprehensiveness of the battery and met the needs of mobile communication, portable computers, power tools and electric vehicles. At the same time, through the implementation of this project, the cooperation between China Ni-MH battery and related enterprises such as materials, equipment, testing instruments and downstream products has been promoted, and the production capacity, technical level and competitiveness of the whole industry have been significantly improved, paving the way for the development of Ni-MH battery industry and the entry of products into the international market. Objective China has successfully develope nine series of 32 specification nickel-hydrogen battery products, forming a nickel-hydrogen battery industry with an annual output of 3,000 tons of hydrogen storage alloy material and 300 million ampere-hour nickel-hydrogen batteries, with an annual output value of about 3 billion yuan. It has driven a high-tech industrial cluster with an annual output value of over 10 billion yuan.
We believe that with the support of the 863 Program, China Ni-MH battery industry will write a more brilliant chapter in the new century.