NMR study of hydrogen diffusion in zirconium hydride

The nuclear-magnetic-resonance method was used to study the diffusion of hydrogen in zirconium hydride by measuring the temperature dependence of T1 in a temperature range where the major relaxation mechanism was due to hydrogen diffusion. The samples investigated were ZrH/sub 1.588/, ZrH/sub 1.629/, ZrH/sub 1.684/, ZrH/sub 1.736/, ZrH/sub 1.815/, ZrH/sub 1.910/, and ZrH/sub 1.960/. These spanned both the cubic and tetragonal phases. The activation energy was found to be independent of hydrogen concentration in the cubic phase with E/sub a/ = 13.4 +- 0.4 kcal/mol and a preexponential factor given by A = (1/2)(2-x)(45 +- 10) x 1012 Hz. In the tetragonal phase the activation energy of the bulk of the hydrogen increased modestly with concentration. In addition, it was discovered that a new very fast hydrogen channel was created by the tetragonality for approx.3% of the hydrogen. They jump with a preexponential factor that is about 2 orders of magnitude larger than that of the rest of the hydrogen. A comparison was also made between the Bloembergen-Purcell-Pound, the Barton-Sholl, and the Bustard theories for nuclear magnetic relaxation due to diffusion