IFSSEHT-2003 was held from 18th to 22nd August at Sarov, Russia, where about 250 delegates from 12 countries attended a range of presentations on various aspects of hydrogen (H). The symposium also commemorated the 60th anniversary of pioneering H utilisation by Boris Shelishch who, during the Siege of Leningrad, devised H-powered vehicles. Selected papers, some relating to the platinum metals, are reported here.

Papers looked at atomic H energy, nuclear ways to produce H from water, the H economy, and the Kyoto agreement effects on Russia. Safe ways to process H from the H₂S trapped in the Black Sea were described by V. G. Kashiya (Sukhumi Physical-Technical Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia). More traditional H production using electrolysers in fuelling stations for various projects in Europe (ECTOS, CUTE and CEP) was examined by A. Cloumann and K. Sollid (Norsk Hydro Electrolysers, Norway). Modules to extract pure H from industrial gas mixtures, using palladium (Pd) alloy (Pd-In-Ru, Pd-Cu and Pd-Y) thin foil membranes, diameter 50–150 mm, were evaluated by D. I. Slovetsky, E. M. Chistov and N. R. Roshan (A. V. Topchiev Institute, Moscow).

Micro- and nano-patterning of silicon (Si) wafer substrates by sputtering Pd and platinum (Pt) for H separation membranes in reformers for fuel cells were discussed by H. Presting and colleagues from Daimler-Chrysler, Germany, and the Institute of Microelectronics Technology, Chernogolovka, Russia.

Work on H in metals and alloys began with a survey of H diffusion coefficients in Pt, Pd and their alloys, presented by J. Cermák (Institute of Physics, Prague) and F. A. Lewis (Queen's University, Belfast). Problems with residual stress in hollow cylinders related to diffusion problems were described by N. M. Vlasov and I. I. Fedik (“Louch” Research Institute, Russia), while the role of segregation at dislocations and grain boundaries in Pd and some other metals was discussed by Yu. S. Nechaev and G. V. Filippov (Bardin Central Research Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy, Moscow).

Stable and unstable equilibria in metal-H systems, such as rhodium-H, were examined by V. E. Antonov, I. O. Bashkin and E. G. Ponyatovsky (Institute of Solid-State Physics, Chernogolovka) who looked at the phase equilibria at high pressures.

The influence of H and vacancies on the evolution of structure in thermodynamically open Pd-based alloys was discussed by A. A. Katsnelson, V. M. Avdyukhina, A. A. Anishchenko and G. P. Revkevich (Moscow State University). B. A. Spiridonov and V. N. Ermilin (Voronezh State Technical University, Russia) described chemical deposition of a catalytic Pd layer for a H sensor. Generation of a colloidal layer of Pd was involved.

Mechanical instability in concentrated non-homogeneous M-H media, M = Pd, Nb, V, was examined by L. V. Spivak and N. E. Skryabina (Perm State University, Russia). Equilibrium deuterium pressure over Pd and its alloys was described by S. V. Dyomina, M. V. Glagolev and A. I. Vedeneev (Russian Federal Nuclear Centre, Sarov). An analysis of stationary isotherms of H permeability in Pd alloy membranes was described by L. L. Murav'yov, A. B. Vandyshev and M. Sh. Gadel'shin (Institute of Engineering Science, Ekaterinburg, Russia).

A. L. Gusev (Russian Federal Nuclear Centre, Sarov) described research underway on low-temperature H detectors and absorbers, including one based on palladised manganese (Mn) dioxide with a protective anti- oxidant membrane of thin-walled quartz shells. He further described work with Voronezh State University into the effect of H on the electrical properties of metal oxide films alloyed with Si. Lastly, work with the Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics, Chernogolovka, on the production of palladised films of Mn and Co oxides, which can serve as the basis of H sensors, was mentioned.

Abstracts of the proceedings have been published in English and Russian as an International Scientific Journal for Alternative Energy and Ecology (ISJAEE) Special Issue, ISSN 1608-8298, http://isjaee.hydrogen.ru/, available from the Scientific Technical Centre “TATA”, PO Box 787, Sarov, Nizhni Novgorod Region, 607183 Russia; Fax: +7 (83130) 63107; E-mail: gusev@hydrogen.ru.

F. A. Lewis