Thin-foil electrochemical cells: High-sensitivity fusion tests andin-situ ion beam measurements of deuterium loading

Autor: S. S. Tsao, M. J. Kelly, James Arthur Knapp, T. R. Guilinger, D. Walsh, Barney Lee Doyle
Rok vydání: 1990
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Fusion Energy. 9:371-375
ISSN: 1572-9591
0164-0313
Popis: Electrochemical cells constructed with a thin Pd or Ti foil electrode mounted at one wall of the cell have been used both to test for the existence of “cold fusion” and to measure directly D∶Pd loading ratios in an operating cell. The first type of experiment used a surface-barrier particle detector positioned a few millimeters from the foil to provide a very sensitive monitor for possible fusion-generated protons at 3.02 MeV. The detection limit for this arrangement is estimated to be 10−24 fusions/deuterium/s, assuming a bulk fusion effect. These experiments included cells with 5- and 25-μm-thick Pd foils, 10-μm Ti foils, parallel experiments with 0.1M LiOD (heavy water) in one cell and LiOH (light water) in another, current densities up to 0.5 A/cm2, and run times as long as 22 days. No evidence for fusion products was seen. The second type of experiment using these cells, both as an adjunct to the fusion tests and to provide new information, was the use of external beam nuclear reaction analysis to monitor directly the loading and unloading of deuterium in the foil of an operating cell. Using a 1.5-MeV3He ion beam in air, the deuterium in the outer 2 μm of the exposed Pd foil was measured for the first time using the D(3He,p) nuclear reaction. The maximum D∶Pd ratios observed using this technique were 0.8–0.9.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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