Palladium and Palladium Alloys

A main topic area of the conference concerned hydrogen storage together with complementary issues such as developments in fuel cells and hydride batteries. Related current progress was discussed by Lavrenko who presented a comprehensive introductory survey, including reference to the phase relationships of intermetallic compounds of the transition elements.

For palladium and palladium alloys, similarities between analogous factors in regard to the phase relationships, and to strain gradient effects during hydrogen permeation experiments, were considered and discussed in two joint papers presented by R.-A. McNicholl and F. A. Lewis, Queen’s University, Belfast, X. Q. Tong, Birmingham University, K Kandasamy, University of Jaffna and Y. Sakamoto, Nagasaki University. Similar problems in interpreting phase relationships were found for analogous studies on zirconium-vanadium alloys and palladium-zirconium alloys. These were discussed in two papers by I. U. Zavaly of the Department of Physics and Mechanics of the Ukrainian Academy in Lvov. Involvements of Gorsky Effects, produced by localised lattice strain gradients, could be inferred from electron microscopic observations during annealing of palladium containing low hydrogen contents. This was reported by T. P. Perng, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Hsinchu, National Academy, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Structures and Hysteresis Phenomena

Alternative structural change possibilities arising from dislocation production and associated structural damage, occurring concurrently on the introduction of hydrogen into palladium alloys, were dealt with in three papers on palladium-tungsten, palladium-samarium, palladium-copper and palladium-platinum alloys from G. P. Revkevich, A. A. Katsnelson, I. V. Dolya, M. Mitkova and M. M. Kanyazeva of Moscow State University. Theoretical correlations between hydrogen pressure-composition-temperature relationships and regarding dependencies of various physical parameters on hydrogen content, in relation to hydrogen occupation of particular combinations of interstitial sites in palladium alloys, were discussed in a contribution by Z. A. Matysina and S. Yu. Zaginaichenko, of the Metallurgical Institute, of the State University in Dniepropetrovsk.

For palladium-hydrogen and nickel-hydrogen Systems the significance in the correlations between their pressure-composition isothermals, in relation to hysteretic and critical point phenomena and also to magnetic parameters, was discussed in a contribution from I. Dugandzic and H. J. Bauer of the Physics Department, University of Munich. A particularly extensive discussion followed the presentation, by Baranowski, of a fresh quantitative explanation for the size of the hysteretic effects in pressure-composition relationships and associated thermodynamic parameters of the nickel-hydrogen, and particularly palladium-hydrogen, systems.

Contributions to the conference are planned to be published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and it is anticipated that further conferences in the series will continue to take place on a biennial basis.