short version:
contains mix of metals(possibly flammable) and corrosive metal hydroxides
try not to short out the battery when dismantling it
wear glove and goggles when dismantling
in case of fire or fumes flood the area with water(any suitable smothering agent, sand .etc) and let it burn out, ventilate the area.
i dont recomend picking it up when it starts to fume/burn, usually its pretty hot at that point...
[Edited on 19-8-2013 by confused]Gooferking Science - 25-8-2013 at 05:58
My advice would be to do the disassembly outside with good ventilation. You also need face, hand, and body protection. The main problem I've
encountered when disassembling batteries is accidentally shorting them out. This causes internal heating which may cause explosion and/or fire. Good
luck!Random - 25-8-2013 at 21:31
I'll try to get face protection along with a bucket of water and a bucket of dillute acetic acid.
If battery gets on fire ill throw it in a bucket of water, if I get some metal hydride on myself I'm going to wash my hands and put them into vinegar.
Will report results.Oscilllator - 27-8-2013 at 00:21
I have disassembled such a battery. I obtained what I think was nickel metal. It dissolved slowly in acid to give green solutions, but I imagine this
will be very impure. When you unroll the battery, there will be two tapes. One is a stainless steel mesh covered in gunk and the other is the nickel.
Be careful, because the electrode covered in gunk spontaneously catches on fire!
Edit: These batteries are a bugger to open! Its almost as if they don't want people to get into them or something. I found the best way to open them
was a chisel and some judicial applications of kinetic energy.
[Edited on 27-8-2013 by Oscilllator]eidolonicaurum - 3-1-2014 at 03:28
I have opened loads of these batteries, and they have never caught fire etc. They are difficult to get into though, but there a lot of nickel in some
form inside them. I dissolve up the innards in acid, then allow the nickel sulphate to crystallise out. What's left (eventually) is a bunch of rare
earth salts, which is what I was after in the first place. They are perfectly safe to open.blogfast25 - 3-1-2014 at 14:56
What's left (eventually) is a bunch of rare earth salts, [...].
And I didn't even know that... live and learn.MFrancoZ - 2-2-2014 at 19:33
Use fully discharged batteries.
Cut with a small saw.
the best source of nickel, are canadian coins 10 c. (1962-1981) 4.5g, and 25 cents. (1969-1999) 5g.Zyklon-A - 2-2-2014 at 19:43
NiMH batteries contain: Lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and praseodymium.
