The structural and electrochemical properties of a range of alloys, including: ZrV₂, ZrV_1.5Ni_0.5, which have the cubic MgCu₂ structure, Zr_0.35Ti_0.65V_0.85Cr_0.26Ni_1.30, which has the hexagonal MgZn₂ structure and MmNi₅, MmNi_4.2Al_0.8, MmNi_3.5Co_0.7Al_0.8, which have the hexagonal CaCu₅ type structure, have been investigated. These alloys have been prepared using mechanical alloying (MA) followed by annealing. The amorphous phase forms directly from the starting mixture of the elements, without other phase formation. Heating the MA samples at 1070 K for 1 h resulted in the creation of ordered alloys. For some nanocrystalline materials discharge capacities of 210 mAh g–¹ were obtained.