Method of producing hydrogen-storing alloy and electrode making use of the alloy

A method of producing a hydrogen-storage alloy or its hydrogenated product comprising the steps of:

• preparing a starting mixture by mixing i) a ferrovanadium alloy and ii) at least one element selected from the group consisting of:
• Zr, Ni, Ti, Hf, Ta, Y, Ca, Mg, La, Ce, Nb, Nd, Sm, Mo, Al, Si, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, W, Cd and a mixture of rare earth elements so that the mixture has a composition of Zr.alpha.V.beta.Ni.gamma.M.delta. and in which M is either at least Fe or Fe and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mn, Co and Ce and in which a represents a value of from 0.5 to 1.5;
• .beta. represents a value of from 0. 0 1 to 1.2, .gamma. represents a value of from 0.4 to 2.5, .delta. represents a value of from 0.01 to 1.8 and .beta.+.gamma.+.delta. represents a value of from 1.2 to 3.7;
• melting said mixture to obtain a molten alloy having Laves phase of an intermetallic compound with crystalline structure of cubic-symmetrical C15 having crystalline lattice constant of a=6.92 to 7.70;
• and
• casting the alloy to obtain the hydrogen-storage alloy having a composition of Zr.alpha.V.beta.Ni.gamma.M.delta. wherein .alpha., .beta., .gamma., .delta. and M are as defined above.