Abstract: A combine bulk storage/single stage metal hydride compressor, a hydrogen storage alloy therefore and a hydrogen transportation/distribution infrastructure which incorporates the combine bulk storage/single stage metal hydride compressor.

Abstract: A magnesium based hydrogen storage alloy powder which is useful as a hydrogen supply material for powering internal combustion engine or fuel cell vehicles. The alloy contains greater than about 85 atomic percent magnesium, about 2-8 atomic percent nickel, about 0.5-5 atomic percent aluminum and about 2-7 atomic percent rare earth metals or mixtures of rare earth metals. The rare earth elements may be Misch metal and may predominantly contain Ce and/or La. The alloy may also contain about 0.5-5 atomic percent silicon. The alloys can be modified to store more than 4 wt. % hydrogen, with a reduced hydride bond strength (i.e. about 64 kJ/mole) which allows for economic recovery of the stored hydrogen. Also, they have a plateau pressure about two times greater than pure Mg and comparable bond energies and plateau pressures to Mg2Ni alloys, while reducing the amount of incorporated nickel by 25-30 atomic %. Also, the storage capacity of the alloy is significantly greater than the 3.6 wt. % of Mg2Ni material.

Abstract: A hydrogen cooled hydrogen storage unit which employs excess hydrogen flow through flow channels between hydrogen storage alloy plates in order to provide convective cooling of the plates. The unit provides for high packing density of the storage materials and ease of expansion of storage capacity by merely adding more storage material plates. Since the hydrogen flows transversely between the plates and does not flow along the entire length of the stack, the cooling flow path of the hydrogen is short, and the temperature differential between any point of the stack and the hydrogen coolant is maximized, which maximizes the cooling efficiency of the unit.

Abstract: A complete infrastructure system for the generation, storage, transportation, and delivery of hydrogen which makes a hydrogen ecosystem possible. The infrastructure system utilizes high capacity, low cost, light weight thermal hydrogen storage alloy materials having fast kinetics. Also, a novel hydrogen storage bed design which includes a support/heat-transfer component which is made from a highly porous, high thermal conductivity, solid material such as a high thermal conductivity graphitic foam. Finally a material including at least one particle having atomically engineered local chemical and electronic environments, characterized in that the local environments providing bulk nucleation.

Abstract: A complete infrastructure system for the generation, storage, transportation, and delivery of hydrogen which makes a hydrogen ecosystem possible. The infrastructure system utilizes high capacity, low cost, light weight thermal hydrogen storage alloy materials having fast kinetics. Also, a novel hydrogen storage bed design which includes a support/heat-transfer component which is made from a highly porous, high thermal conductivity, solid material such as a high thermal conductivity graphitic foam. Finally a material including at least one particle having atomically engineered local chemical and electronic environments, characterized in that the local environments providing bulk nucleation.

Abstract: Reversible hydrogen storage alloys and methods and electrodes formed therefrom for nickel metal hydride batteries, in which the alloys are quenched from a melt at cooling rates selected to provide a high degree of disorder with an optimum local environment.

Abstract: Hydrogen propelled vehicles and fundamentally new magnesium-based hydrogen storage alloy materials which for the first time make it feasible and practical to use solid state storage and delivery of hydrogen to power internal combustion engine or fuel cell vehicles. These exceptional alloys have remarkable hydrogen storage capacity of well over 6 weight % coupled with extraordinary absorption kinetics such that the alloy powder absorbs 80% of its total capacity within 2 minutes at 300° C.

Abstract: A method for producing a structurally modified nickel hydroxide active material for the positive electrode of an alkaline electrochemical cell. The method comprises the steps of combining a nickel ion solution, an ammonium hydroxide solution, and an alkali metal hydroxide solution to form a reaction mixture; and cycling the supersaturation of the reaction mixture.

Abstract: An nickel hydroxide positive electrode active material which can be made by an ultrasonic precipitation method. The nickel hydroxide active material is characterized by the composition: ##EQU1## where x, the number of water ligands surrounding each Ni cation, is between 0.05 and 0.4 and y is the charge on the anions.

Abstract: A solid state battery comprising a substrate; at least one multilayered electrochemical cell deposited onto the substrate, each multilayered electrochemical cell comprising: a layer of disordered hydrogenated carbon material negative electrode material capable of electrochemically adsorbing and desorbing lithium ions or both lithium and hydrogen ions during charge and discharge; a layer of positive electrode material capable of electrochemically desorbing and adsorbing lithium ions or both lithium and hydrogen ions during charge and discharge; and a layer of insulating/conducting material disposed between the layer of positive electrode material and the layer of negative electrode material, where the layer of insulating/conducting material is electrically insulating and capable of readily conducting or transporting lithium ions or both lithium and hydrogen ions from the layer positive electrode material to the layer of negative electrode material while the battery is charging and from the layer of negative el

Abstract: A disordered positive electrode for use in an alkaline rechargeable electrochemical cell comprising: a solid solution nickel aluminum hydroxide material having a multiphase structure. This solid solution nickel hydroxide material is a multiphase structure that comprises at least one microcrystalline .alpha.-phase material. Phase stabilizers and conductivity enhancers can be included to further stabilize the material.

Abstract: The invention is a process for producing improved electrical-junction devices. The invention is applicable, for example, to a process in which a light-sensitive electrical-junction device is produced by (1) providing a body of crystalline semiconductor material having a doped surface layer, (2) irradiating the layer with at least one laser pulse to effect melting of the layer, (3) permitting recrystallization of the melted layer, and (4) providing the resulting body with electrical contacts. In accordance with the invention, the fill-factor and open-circuit-voltage parameters of the device are increased by conducting the irradiation with the substrate as a whole at a selected elevated temperature, the temperature being selected to effect a reduction in the rate of the recrystallization but insufficient to effect substantial migration of impurities within the body. In the case of doped silicon substrates, the substrate may be heated to a temperature in the range of from about 200.degree. C. to 500.degree. C.

Abstract: This invention is a method for improving the electrical properties of silicon semiconductor material. The method comprises irradiating a selected surface layer of the semiconductor material with high-power laser pulses characterized by a special combination of wavelength, energy level, and duration. The combination effects melting of the layer without degrading electrical properties, such as minority-carrier diffusion length. The method is applicable to improving the electrical properties of n- and p-type silicon which is to be doped to form an electrical junction therein. Another important application of the method is the virtually complete removal of doping-induced defects from ion-implanted or diffusion-doped silicon substrates.

Abstract: This invention is an improved method for preparing p-n junction devices, such as diodes and solar cells. High-quality junctions are prepared by effecting laser-diffusion of a selected dopant into silicon by means of laser pulses having a wavelength of from about 0.3 to 1.1 .mu.m, an energy area density of from about 1.0 to 2.0 J/cm.sup.2, and a duration of from about 20 to 60 nanoseconds. Initially, the dopant is deposited on the silicon as a superficial layer, preferably one having a thickness in the range of from about 50 to 100 A. Depending on the application, the values for the above-mentioned pulse parameters are selected to produce melting of the silicon to depths in the range from about 1000 A to 1 .mu.m. The invention has been used to produce solar cells having a one-sun conversion efficiency of 10.6%, these cells having no antireflective coating or back-surface fields.

Abstract: A NTD semiconductor material comprising polycrystalline silicon having a mean grain size less than 1000 microns and containing phosphorus dispersed uniformly throughout the silicon rather than at the grain boundaries.