LAUSR

Abstract Nickel hydroxide spherical powders contain small crystallite sizes and stacking faults that are necessary for electrochemical activity. Stacking faults along the c-axis orientation can be visualized by broadening and angular shifts in the (h0l) diffraction peaks, which are directly correlated to the electrochemical utilization of these materials. Higher ratios of growth-type faults to deformation-type faults have been shown to correlate with metrics of high utilization, even after controlling for the total percentage of stacking faults. Depending on the additives, stacking faults tend to increase with precipitation time, but additives, such as Zn, can affect the energy barriers so that precipitation conditions favor fewer stacking faults with precipitation time. Both Co and Zn suppress the percentage of stacking faults that occur in the materials, but a combination of Co and Zn allows the number of stacking faults to increase with precipitation time. The precipitation process has a significant role in the evolution of stacking faults, which can be further optimized to yield high electrochemical utilization in substituted nickel hydroxide spherical powders.