Material characteristics and behaviour of highly deuterium loaded palladium by electrolysis

Abstract Studies on several kinds of palladium cathodes have been conducted in electrochemical cells using LiOD/D 2 O electrolyte to determine necessary and sufficient conditions for attaining high deuterium loading. Comparative observations of the microstructure and analysis of surface impurities have been carried out on palladium specimens with various pre-electrolysis treatments and post electrolysis. From the observations and analysis of various processed and treated Pd specimens, the material characteristics of a Pd cathode achieving high loading ratios (D/Pd>0.85) are discussed.