Lightweight substrates for nickel electrodes

Lightweight nickel substrates have been prepared from non-woven polyacryloninite (PAN) fiber structures. PAN fibers were chemically bonded together using a partial oxidation step before carbonization. Carbon nanofibers ranging from 20 to 500 nm were grown onto the fused carbon fiber structure. The resulting structure was when coated with nickel thus creating a porous, lightweight fibrous network suitable for subsequent impregnation of Ni(OH)2 active material.