CFRL English News No. 25 (2001. 6. 10)
Cold Fusion Research Laboratory Dr.
Hideo Kozima
E-mail address; cf-lab.kozima@pdx.edu
Webpage; http://web.pdx.edu/~pdx00210/
www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~kunihoto/cf-lab/index.html
This is CFRL News (in English) No. 25 translated from Japanese version
published for friend researchers of Cold Fusion Research Laboratory directed by
Dr. H. Kozima in Portland State University
In this issue, there are
following items.
1) Rolison and
W.E. OfGrady, gObservation of Elemental
Anomalies at the Surface of Palladium after Electrochemical Loading of
Deuterium and Hydrogenh Analytical Chemistry 63, 1696-1701 (1991)
2)
McKubre et al. Proc. ICCF8 p.3 gThe
Emergence of a Coherent Explanation for anomalies Observed in D/Pd and H/Pd
Systems: Evidence for 4He and 3He Productionh
3) First
Announcement for ICCF9 (Beijing, May 2002).
1. D.R. Rolison
and W.E. OfGrady, gObservation of Elemental
Anomalies at the Surface of Palladium after Electrochemical Loading of
Deuterium and Hydrogenh Analytical Chemistry 63, 1696-1701 (1991)
As announced
in the News No. 24, I will discuss about the above paper by Rolison and OfGrady.
In
this paper, experiments with Pd foil cathodes and Pt anodes were used for
electrolytic experiments with Li2SO4 in heavy and light
waters. They observed foreign atoms in the surface layer of thickness about a
few microns of Pd cathodes.
Impurities
in the original Pd cathodes were Pt 200 ppm, Rh 50 ppm, Ag 100 ppm, Cu 50 ppm,
Mn 10-15 ppm, Ni 200-300 ppm, Si 20-40 ppm. The amounts of foreign atoms
observed were; in the case of Rh, the amount increased with electric charge
electrolyzed until [105
C and then kept constant both in heavy and in light waters. In the case
of Ag, similar tendency was observed.
The
result can be explained by following causes:
1.
Impurities in the cathode have diffused out onto the surface in the process of hydrogen
isotope occlusion and precipitated in the surface layer.
2.
Impurities in the anode have dissolved into the electrolyte and deposited on
the surface of the cathode in the process of electrolysis.
3.
Foreign atoms are generated in the surface layer by nuclear transmutations
catalyzed by neutrons in the cathode in the surface layer.
Rolison
et al. have explained their data by the mechanism (1) assuming about 25 % of
impurity Rh in the cathode had precipitated on the surface. The mobility
estimated by the amount of Rh atoms in the surface layer is consistent with
values observed in other experiments, they say.
The
second possibility of anode origin of the foreign atoms is denied by Rolison et
al. because the high purity of Pt of 99.999%.
The
third possibility is also denied by them because the Rh and Ag were observed
both in heavy and light water experiments altogether contradicting with their
presumption of d-d fusion reactions responsible to cold fusion phenomenon. In
reality, 102Pd and 108Pd absorb a neutron to become 103Pd
and 109Pd, and then they decays into 103Rh and 109Ag,
respectively, by electron capture and beta decay.
This
possibility, however, should be reconsidered as is also discussed in the next
section. The discovery of the neutron in 1932 by Chadwick (cf. News No.24
Article 1) had shown importance of expectation in research works. In the case
of the discovery of the neutron, right expectation guided Chadwick to find out
the hidden clue. Wrong expectation, however, will guide us to erroneous direction.
In the cold fusion phenomenon, almost all critiques have made the same mistake
assuming the d-d fusion reaction for all events of CFP and denied reality of
the phenomenon.
It is
possible to explain the generation of Rh and Ag by the neutron catalyzed
reactions as already pointed out by Rolison et al. Only the difficulty of the
explanation is the amounts of Rh and Ag: we have to conclude that the amount of
Ag should be much about 100 times that of Rh by the abundances of 102Pd
and 108Pd, neutron absorption cross sections and decay times of the
nuclei 103Pd and 109Pd. The adjustable parameter in the
TNCF model is determined as
nn
= 3.5 ~1013
cm|3,
consistent with values
determined by other data (cf. Discovery Chapter 11)
It is
not possible the amount of Ag decreases drastically as far as the electrolysis
continues. Only a possibility is dissolve of Ag after the electrolysis into the
solution, which is not consistent with explanation given in the original paper.
If the
explanation (1) is right, we should be aware of large accumulation of small
amount of impurity atoms in a cathode on the surface in experiments of nuclear
transmutation.
Acknowledgement: The author would like to
express his thanks to Prof. K. Ota of Yokohama National University for valuable
discussions on the electrolysis
2. M.
McKubre, F. Tanzella, P. Tripodi and P. Hagelstein, gThe Emergence of a Coherent Explanation for
anomalies Observed in D/Pd and H/Pd Systems: Evidence for 4He and 3He
Productionh Conference
Proceedings 70 (Proc.
ICCF8) p.3, F. Scaramuzzi Ed.,
SIF, Bologna (2000)
M. McKubre et al. in SRI International have been
working in various excellent experiments in cold fusion phenomenon (CFP). In
this Conference, they presented standard experiments to confirm experiments done
in these several years. Their experiments are divided into four categories.
1.
Open cell electrolysis of D2O at Pd and Pd-alloy wire cathodes using
an accurate integral boundary Seebeck calorimetry. (to replicate earlier
observations of Miles et al.)
2. Loading
of D2 and H2 into Pd on carbon supported catalyst using
modest gas pressures (1-3 atm.) (to test the claim by Case to observe excess
temperature and increasing 4He levels under similar conditions.)
3.
Closed cell electrolytic loading of D into Pd wire cathodes in a rigorously
metal-sealed apparatus using highly accurate mass flow calorimetry. (to
replicate earlier results of excess heat measurement at SRI.)
4.
Closed cell electrolytic loading of D (and H) into hollow Pd cathodes sealed to
contain small dimension Pd-black powders. (to replicate published results by
Arata and Zhang.)
They
analyzed the experimental results assuming a following reaction formula:
d + d ¨ 4He + 23.82 MeV (lattice)
(1)
Their experimental
results and analyses of them are summarized as follows:
Exp. 1. 4He and an excess heat were
observed. The amount of 4He was about 76 % of that expected from the
amount of the excess heat if the Eq. (1) is correct.
Exp. 2. An excess heat and 4He were observed
which increased exponentially with time. The excess heat per 4He
atom was 31}13
MeV.
Exp. 3. In the experiment with Pd wire of 100mm~1mmΣand D2O,
an excess heat of 82J and 4He
were measured. Taking into account of 4He lost by sampling and
others, the number of 4He atoms is 104}10 of
the number of atoms quantitatively correlated with the observed heat via Eq.
(1).
Exp. 4. The experiments confirmed the published
data by Arata and Zhang in general. The maximum excess power observed was 9.9 }1.3 of
the measured power input, with the average value being approximately half the
maximum. Significant amounts of
tritium and 3He from the decay of tritium were found inside the
double structured volume of the cathode electrolyzed in heavy water.
It was already
reported that Arata et al. observed a large amount of 4He that was
analyzed using the TNCF model (Discovery 6.2f and 11.8d). I had
anticipated production of tritium not detected at that time besides 4He.
In these experiments, 4He was observed but not tritium. Experiment
is difficult.
Meanwhile, I would
like to point out another possibility of 4He production with
quantitative correlation with the excess heat.
It was already pointed out
the direct d-d fusion reaction can be accomplished with very small probability
in solids (as fully discussed by Leggett and Baym, Ichimaru, and others as
cited in TNCF News No.22). We have proposed reactions catalyzed by neutrons as
follows:
n + d ¨ t (7.0 keV) + Α(6.25 MeV)
(2)
t + d ¨ 4He (3.5 MeV) + n (14.1 MeV)
(3)
These reactions occur in
a free space. If liberated energies in these reactions are dissipated into
thermal energy of solids (as assumed in Eq. (1)), we can obtain following
reaction (eliminating common terms in both sides):
d + d Λ 4He
+ 23.8 MeV (lattice)
(4)
This is essentially the
same equation as Eq. (1); while there the direct d-d reaction is assumed, here
neutron catalyzed reactions are. Therefore, it is dangerous to conclude Eq. (1)
from numerical relations between products of CFP; they show only numerical
relations and not their production mechanisms.
As I
have pointed out many times, phonons with wave lengths at least of `10|8cm
can not screen the Coulomb repulsion at a distance of 10]13cm
where the attractive nuclear force starts to work. It is necessary to invent
some artifice to overcome this difficulty if we cohere to phonons to work in
favor of CFP.
It
should be pointed out about probabilities of reactions (2) and (3). Reaction
(3) occurs less than reaction (2) and the amount of 4He expected
from (3) does not correspond to the excess energy of 23.8 MeV per atom. Recent
calculation, however, suggests similar probabilities of two reactions due to
local coherent existence of neutrons in the surface region. It is possible to
have drastically different behavior of lattice nuclei in solid materials with
optimum conditions for CFP.
3. The First Announcement for ICCF9.
The 9th
International Conference on Cold Fusion will be held on May 19 – 25, 2002 in
Beijing as announced in the First Announcement cited below.
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
I am glad to make the first
announcement for ICCF-9. We have the Website and
e-mail address now for The Ninth International Conference on Cold Fusion.
That is:
http://iccf9.global.tsinghua.edu.cn
and the e-mail address:
Iccf9@tsinghua.edu.cn
@Your early suggestions and
comments would help us to make a better
arrangement for ICCF-9.
@We are looking forward to
seeing your early reply (Pre-registration!).
Sincerely yours,
Li, Xing Zhong
Mailing address:
Prof. Li, Xing Zhong
Dept. of Physics, Tsinghua Univ., Beijing 100084, CHINA
Tel.: 86-10-6278 4343
Fax: 86-10-6278 4343