In-situ observation of deuteride formation in palladium electrochemical cathode by X-ray diffraction method

In-situ X-ray diffraction observation of palladium foil cathode (10 μm) was carried out during electrolysis of 0.1N-LiOD heavy water solution in order to estimate the deuterium content in palladium during the detection of charged particles in our previous work. A complete transformation into β-palladium deuteride phase was observed, and its maximum lattice constant 4.06 A was evaluated as corresponding to D/Pd = 0.73. The deuterium concentration in the previous work was estimated as higher than this considering the difference in cell conditions. (author)