The chromatographic separation for hydrogen isotopes by adsorption-desorption, on Pd/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

Hydrogen isotopes separation and their analysis is one of the key steps in the tritium fuel cycle for a thermonuclear fusion reactor. Several adsorbing materials to separate hydrogen isotopes have been reported in the last few years. Most methods are based on adsorption on solid substrates such as alumina, molecular sieves, silicagel and so on. We studied the separation of H2, HD and D2 on a Pd/γ - Al2O3 used as preparative gas-chromatographic techniques. Pd/γ - Al2O3 was characterized by analysis of pore size distribution, volume of pores, surface area. The adsorption-desorption behaviour of H2 and D2, together with the resulted separation on Pd/γ - Al2O3 at different temperatures have been studied in detail. In general, we can conclude that adsorption-desorption measurements at different temperatures is a good tool to select substrates and to optimize the working temperature in preparative gas-chromatographic techniques for the separation of hydrogen isotopes. (authors)