Gas loading of deuterium in palladium at low temperature

Abstract

The experimental technique presented in this article is aimed at measuring the absorption of hydrogen or deuterium gas in a thin palladium sample while the system is at low temperature. A result for deuterium is described, consisting in the measurement of the equilibrium loading ratio X (called also D/Pd ratio, atomic), as a function of pressure, on a palladium film 3.6 μm-thick at 150 K. Values of X up to 1 have been measured at pressures lower than 1 bar. The electric resistance of the palladium sample also has been measured as a function of temperature and of X, and the results are reported.