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SEM and EDS Characterization of Titanium Cathodes Before and After Electrolysis in Heavy Water

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

J. Warner
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, Or., 97207-0751
J. Dash
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, Or., 97207-0751
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Extract

A series of experiments were conducted with titanium cathodes and platinum anodes electrolyzed in heavy water-sulfuric acid electrolyte in closed cells. Each of the cathodes in these experiments was cut from the same titanium foil (99.99% Ti). Each cathode underwent a pre-experiment and a post-experiment SEM (ISI-SS40) and EDS (LINK AN10000) analysis. Of the eight experimental cathodes, three showed post-experimental evidence of localized chemical changes. This is consistent with other findings from this lab. Results obtained on one of these cathodes are presented here.

This cathode was electrolyzed for 115 hours at 0.40A (current density about 2A/cm2). The cathode was ultrasonically cleaned in deionized water for five minutes prior to the pre experiment analysis. Fig. 1 shows the smooth surface of the cathode before electrolysis. No other elements besides titanium were found. After electrolysis in 19.4g D2O +l.0g H2SO4 the cathode was removed from the cell and rinsed by gentle agitation in deionized water for several minutes.

Type
Mas Celebrates: Fifty Years of Electron Probe Microanalysis
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

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6 This report is based upon research supported in part by the U.S. Army Research Office under grant number DAAG 55-97-1-0357. Funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Drexler and the New York Community Trust were also used to support this work.Google Scholar