A film-shaped fired material of the present invention is a film-shaped fired material 1 which contains sinterable metal particles 10 and a binder component 20, in which a time (A1) after the start of a temperature increase, at which a negative gradient is the highest, in a thermogravimetric curve (TG curve) measured from 40° C. to 600° C. at a temperature-rising-rate of 10° C./min in an air atmosphere and a maximum peak time (B1) in a time range of 0 seconds to 2160 seconds after the start of a temperature increase in a differential thermal analysis curve (DTA curve) measured from 40° C. to 600° C. at a temperature-rising-rate of 10° C./min in an air atmosphere using alumina particles as a reference sample satisfy a relationship of “A1<B1<A1+200 seconds” and a relationship of “A1<2000 seconds”.

A nickel-metal hydride secondary battery includes an outer can and a group of electrodes housed in the outer can together with an alkaline electrolytic solution. The group of electrodes includes a positive electrode and a negative electrode that are superposed with a separator interposed therebetween, and the negative electrode includes a hydrogen absorbing alloy for nickel-metal hydride secondary batteries, the hydrogen absorbing alloy having a single composition and composed of a plurality of crystal phases.

A range of alloys of Mg and at least one of Cu, Si, Ni and Na alloys that is particularly suitable for hydrogen storage applications. The alloys of the invention are formed into binary and ternary systems. The alloys are essentially hypoeutectic with respect to their Cu and Ni contents, where one or both of these elements are present, but range from hypoeutectic through to hypereutectic with respect to their Si content when that element is also present. The terms hypoeutectic and hypereutectic do not apply to Na if it is added to the alloy. The alloy compositions disclosed provide high performance alloys with regard to their hydrogen storage and kinetic characteristics. They are also able to be formed using conventional casting techniques which are far cheaper and more amenable to commercial use than the alternative ball-milling and rapid solidification techniques which are much more expensive and complex. Each of the individual binary Mg-E systems, where E=Cu, Ni or Si, forms a eutectic comprising of Mg metal and a corresponding Mg.sub.xE.sub.y intermetallic phase.

A caster assembly configured to process and store a material includes a reaction chamber, a storage assembly configured to store material processed in the reaction chamber, and a blower configured to process and store the material. The reaction chamber includes a vessel configured to hold the material in a melted state prior to processing and a powder generating assembly configured to receive the material from the melting vessel. The powder generating assembly includes a feeding chamber and a feeding device disposed at least partially within the feeding chamber. The feeding device includes at least one nozzle configured to inject inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two into the feeding chamber and a material inlet through which the material is configured to flow into the feeding chamber to be exposed to the inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two.

A caster assembly configured to process and store a material includes a reaction chamber, a storage assembly configured to store material processed in the reaction chamber, and a blower configured to process and store the material. The reaction chamber includes a vessel configured to hold the material in a melted state prior to processing and a powder generating assembly configured to receive the material from the melting vessel. The powder generating assembly includes a feeding chamber and a feeding device disposed at least partially within the feeding chamber. The feeding device includes at least one nozzle configured to inject inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two into the feeding chamber and a material inlet through which the material is configured to flow into the feeding chamber to be exposed to the inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two.

A hydrogen storage alloy suitable for prescribed pretreatment, that is, pretreatment wherein mechanical pulverization is performed after pulverizing a hydrogen storage alloy and absorbing/desorbing hydrogen is provided. The hydrogen storage alloy comprises a parent phase having a CaCu.sub.5-type, that is, an AB.sub.5-type crystal structure, wherein the A site is constituted from a rare earth element containing La; and the B site does not contain Co and contains at least Ni, Al, and Mn, with the ratio (Mn/Al) of the content of Mn (molar ratio) to the content of Al (molar ratio) being 0.60 or more and less than 1.56, and the ratio (La/(Mn+Al)) of the content of La (molar ratio) to the total content of the content of Al (molar ratio) and the content of Mn (molar ratio) being more than 0.92.

Vehicle structural components and additive manufacturing methods for forming the components are described. The structural components incorporate hydrogen storage materials for use in conjunction with hydrogen fuel cells in electric-powered vehicles such as unmanned aerial vehicles. The hydrogen storage materials can be in the form of a 3D printed metal foam that includes a metal hydride and an inert structural metal. The material can exhibit a very low weight density able to store hydrogen in a low pressure solid-state form at a high energy density. The structural components that carry the hydrogen storage materials can be exchangeable components of a vehicle, and the vehicle can be refueled by merely exchanging an exhausted component for a replacement component that is fully-charged with hydrogen.

A method for preparing a rare earth anisotropic bonded magnetic powder, comprises the following steps: (1) preparing raw powder with RTBH as the main component, wherein, R is Nd or Pr/Nd, and T is a transition metal containing Fe; (2) adding La/Ce hydride and copper powder to the raw powder to form a mixture; (3) subjecting the mixture to atmosphere diffusion heat treatment to give the rare earth anisotropic bonded magnetic powder. The invention selects high-abundance rare earth elements La, Ce to replace Dy, Tb, Nd, Pr and other medium and heavy rare earth elements, which can achieve the same coercivity improvement effect while also significantly reducing the cost, thereby achieving efficient application of low-cost and high-abundance rare earths.

A hydride secondary battery includes: a pressure vessel; a positive electrode disposed in the pressure vessel; a negative electrode disposed in the pressure vessel; and hydrogen gas with which the pressure vessel is filled. The negative electrode contains a hydrogen-absorbing alloy. In a pressure-composition-temperature diagram, a desorption curve at 25 C. of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy has a plateau pressure of 0.15 MPa or more and 10 MPa or less. The hydrogen gas has a pressure equal to or higher than the plateau pressure at 25 C. of the hydrogen-absorbing alloy.

A caster assembly configured to process and store a material includes a reaction chamber, a storage assembly configured to store material processed in the reaction chamber, and a blower configured to process and store the material. The reaction chamber includes a vessel configured to hold the material in a melted state prior to processing and a powder generating assembly configured to receive the material from the melting vessel. The powder generating assembly includes a feeding chamber and a feeding device disposed at least partially within the feeding chamber. The feeding device includes at least one nozzle configured to inject inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two into the feeding chamber and a material inlet through which the material is configured to flow into the feeding chamber to be exposed to the inert fluid, where the fluid is a gas, liquid, or combination of the two.