SHORT COMMUNICATION

Further evidence of nuclear reactions in the Pd/D lattice:emission of charged particles

Stanislaw Szpak & Pamela A. Mosier-Boss &Frank E. Gordon

Received: 5 September 2006 /Revised: 20 December 2006 /Accepted: 2 January 2007 / Published online: 15 February 2007# Springer-Verlag 2007

Abstract Almost two decades ago, Fleischmann and Ponsreported excess enthalpy generation in the negativelypolarized Pd/D-D2O system, which they attributed tonuclear reactions. In the months and years that followed,other manifestations of nuclear activities in this systemwere observed, viz. tritium and helium production andtransmutation of elements. In this report, we presentadditional evidence, namely, the emission of highlyenergetic charged particles emitted from the Pd/D electrodewhen this system is placed in either an external electrostaticor magnetostatic field. The density of tracks registered by aCR-39 detector was found to be of a magnitude thatprovides undisputable evidence of their nuclear origin. Theexperiments were reproducible. A model based uponelectron capture is proposed to explain the reactionproducts observed in the Pd/D-D2O system.

Keywords CR-39 . Pd/D Codeposition . Charged particles

Introduction

A physical quantity is defined by prescribing the operationsnecessary for its production and measurement. One suchquantity is the excess enthalpy production during electrol-ysis of D2O on Pd electrodesthe FleischmannPonseffect. In particular, they reported that during electrolysis,excess enthalpy is generated in the amounts that could notbe accounted for by any known physical or chemicalprocess; hence, it must be of a nuclear origin. This indirect

evidence was not accepted primarily on two grounds: (1)the absence of nuclear ash and (2) at that time, poorreproducibility. Since then, substantial progress was madein improving reproducibility in generating excess heat andin measuring nuclear ash. (Interested readers are referred tothe Proceedings of the International Conference on ColdFusionthe ICCF series).

Restricting our attention to cells employing cathodesprepared by the Pd/D codeposition, the first indication ofnuclear activity was the emission of X-rays with a broadenergy distribution and, occasionally, with well identifiablepeaks (Szpak et al. 1995). However, the presence ofelectromagnetic radiation alone cannot be regarded as theproof of nuclear activity. In the search for additionalevidence we examined the production of tritium, whichwas found to be sporadic and often at low rates. Neverthe-less, active periods persisting for days, were observed withthe tritium production rates of approximately 6103 atoms/s(Szpak et al. 1998). Recently, we reported that by placing anoperating cell in an external electrostatic field, newelements are produced, among them Al, Si, and Mg (Szpaket al. 2005a,b). In this report, we present a reproducible and,what we believe to be, direct and undisputable evidence oflow-energy nuclear reactions in the Pd lattice, namely, theemission of charged particles in amounts far greater thanthat provided by the background. Furthermore, we propose amodel that is based on concepts and methods, common inphysical chemistry, to analyze conditions that lead to thenuclear events in the polarized Pd/D-D2O system.

Materials and methods

The experimental set-up, including cell design and opera-tion, was identical to that described previously (Szpak et al.

Naturwissenschaften (2007) 94:511514DOI 10.1007/s00114-007-0221-7

S. Szpak : P. A. Mosier-Boss (*) : F. E. GordonSpace and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center San Diego,San Diego, CA 92152-5001, USAe-mail: pam.boss@navy.mil

2005a,b), except for the cathode assembly. Here, a Niscreen or a single wire was substituted for the Au foil and,to record the emission of charged particles, a CR-39detector (Fukuvi) was placed between the polyethylenebase and the Ni screen, as shown in Fig. 1. CR-39 is an etchdetector commonly used in nuclear physics to detect theemission of charged particles. The use of CR-39 to detecthigh-energy particles in the Pd/D system has previouslybeen demonstrated by Oriani and Fisher (2002), Lipson etal. (2000), and Miley et al. (2002) The cathode assemblywas positioned parallel to the external field. Upon comple-tion of an experimental run, the cathode was disassembledand the CR-39 chip processed using standard procedure(etching in 6.5 N of NaOH for 67 h at 6572C).

Results

Under normal conditions, i.e., when the cell operation iscontrolled by the cell current and temperature, the nuclearash consisted of X- and -rays, tritium, and excessenthalpy. However, when an operating cell was placed inan external electric field, reaction products included theformation of new elements as well as the emission ofcharged particles. The emission of charged particles, e.g.,p+ and 2+, constitutes an undisputable evidence of nuclearevents. If such events occur in the polarized Pd/D-D2Osystem, then, owing to the stopping power of the electrode

material, they could be detected only along the electrodeedge as illustrated in Fig. 2a. The bright line along theperipheries of a single eyelet is, in fact, an overlap ofhundreds of impingement tracks, as shown by magnifying asegment indicated by an arrow (Fig. 2b). Images near theedges of the cathode have a lower density of tracks. Asindicated in Fig. 2c, double and triple tracks can beobserved. Such tracks are observed from a reaction thatemits two or three particles of similar mass and energy(Phillips1, personal communication).

The size, depth of penetration, and shape of the tracksyield information on the identification of particles (e.g., p+

and 2+) and their energy. Since our interest is in thebehavior of an operating system, we are currentlyconcerned with when and how the energetic particles areemitted. Figure 2d shows clusters of tracks recorded after1 h of exposure, indicating that coherent domains, arisingfrom self-organization, are formed shortly after activationof an external field. The presence of clusters is consistentwith an earlier observation of hot spots (Mosier-Boss andSzpak 1999). To reiterate, (1) emission of charged particlesoccurs shortly after the activation of an external field, (2)reaction sites are localized (Fig. 2d), and (3) the highdensity of tracks (Fig. 2b) resulting from prolongedexposure is consistent with a random distribution of activesites.

Discussion

The emission of charged particles is a product of trans-mutations that are governed by the same laws as ordinarychemical reactions (i.e., conservation of mass and charge;Remy 1956). This observation is the starting point thatleads to the proposition that pertinent informationconcerning the mechanism of any reaction can be obtainedif the input and output variables are known. A model can beformulated in the context of the following: (1) state of thesystem, (2) imposed constraints, and (3) the nature of theelectronnucleus reaction.

State of the system

An operating cell is viewed as an open system that is in anonequilibrium condition. If a complex reaction path exists,with rate constants being a nonlinear function of variablesaffecting their rate, then the expected behavior is thedevelopment of new structures. As a rule, open physico-chemical systems, far from equilibrium, undergo self-organization, which, in turn, yields structures of spatialdomains characterized by bursts of chemical activityFig. 1 Cathode assembly used to record emission of charged

particles. A single wire can be used in place of the Ni screen. Thecathode assembly placed in a rectangular cell. Field direction indicatedby an arrow 1 Phillips, G. Consultant, JWK International

512 Naturwissenschaften (2007) 94:511514

appearing as hot spots (Mosier-Boss and Szpak 1999) or, asin the present case, in the emission of charged particles asshown in Fig. 2. The reaction volume, located within theinterphase, is the seat for the set of consecutive and/orparallel reactions terminating with the occurrence of anuclear event. It is convenient to separate these processesinto two groups occupying the same volume, namely,processes undergoing self-organization and subject to thelaws of physicochemistry and transmutations and othernuclear activities governed by the applicable laws ofnuclear physics.

Imposed constraints

The imposed constraints on an operating cell are the cellcurrent and either an external electrostatic or magnetostaticfields. The first determines the rate of relevant electro-chemistry through electrochemical potentials while anexternal field influences the set of events by affecting boththe driving forces (electrochemical potentials) as well as theactivity within the reaction volume. If a particle interactswith an internal or external field associated with thechange in the number of particles, then its energy must be

included, and the chemical potential takes on a formm m u x; y; z , where u(x,y,z) is the interaction energy.By application of an external electrostatic or magnetostaticfield a new situation is created. Significant morphologicaland structural changes take place in the cathode, which, inturn, generate Pd lattice defects and changes in themagnitude of driving forcesthe chemical/electrochemicalpotentials, which in effect produce new elements and theemission of charged particles.

The electronnucleus reaction

Emission of soft X-rays has been reported by Miles et al.(1994), Violante et al. (2002), and Szpak et al. (1995). Thisemission suggests that electron capture is occurring. Withinthe reaction volume, the concentration of energetic elec-trons with the ratio [e]/[D+] is sufficiently large so that theX (where X may be D+, D2

+, Li+, etc.) is surrounded byelectrons. Under these conditions, electron capture can bedescribed as a chemical reaction:

Z X A e !Z1 YA v 1with the neutrino escaping the reaction volume. For this

Fig. 2 Emission of high-energy charged particles from a polarized Pd/D-D2O system exposed to an external field. a Tracks observed arounda single eyelet of the Ni screen; bright lines and spots along theperipheries represent hundreds of overlapping impingement tracks.b Expanded area indicated by arrow in subpanel a. c Expanded areaindicated by an arrow in subpanel b. Arrows indicate double and tripletracks. d Impingement tracks of particles emitted from Pd deposited on

a single Ag wire. Clusters observed within an hour after activation ofan external field. ac Magnetostatic field 12,200 Gauss, in field forseveral days. c electrostatic field 3,000 Vcm1, an hour in field.Solution composition 0.03 M PdCl2+0.3 M LiCl in D2O. Cathodiccell current profile (in milliampere per square centimeter): i=1.0 for2 h, i=3.0 for the period necessary to reduce all Pd2+ ions, i=30.050.0 for 23 h, and i=100.0 after placement in an external field

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reaction to occur, the product: affinity, Af, times velocity, v,must be positive Af v > 0 . Taking v>0 for the forwarddirection, the condition for the electron capture is theinequality m ne > mz1 mz or m ne > "Z "Z1,where is the negative binding energy (Landau andLifshitz 1980).

An example of such a reaction is the reverse of the well-known neutron decay reaction: n ! p e v. Thisreaction proceeds spontaneously from left to right whilethe reverse requires that the chemical potential of freeelectrons be not less than >0.8 MeV (Orear et al. 1949).Similarly, applying Eq. 1 to the D+ species, we have e D ! n2 followed by an instantaneous decompositionn22n. For this reaction to occur, the electrochemicalpotential of free electrons must be roughly 25 times greaterthan that involving a proton, which is small for electronsinteracting with electric fields of 108109 Vcm1.

The reaction e D ! 2n is the source of low energyneutrons (Szpak, unpublished data), which are the productof the energetically weak reaction (with the heat of reactionon the electron volt level) and reactants for the highlyenergetic nuclear reaction n+XY. This model states that(1) the imposed constraints are responsible for the frequen-cy of the formation of coherent domains while transmuta-tion reactions, X(n,r)Y, determine the excess power and (2)it specifies the mechanism by which a chemical reactioncan trigger a nuclear response.

In a short hand notation, the transmutation reaction iswritten as X(n,r)Y+Q with Q>0 for exothermic and Q /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict > /JPEG2000ColorImageDict > /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages true /GrayImageMinResolution 150 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /Warning /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 150 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict > /GrayImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict > /JPEG2000GrayImageDict > /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages true /MonoImageMinResolution 600 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /Warning /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 600 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict > /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile (None) /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False

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