Improvement of Electrochemical Methods for Studying Metal‐Hydrogen Systems

Abstract

Abstract Correct diffusion measurements using electrochemical methods must be carried out under careful consideration of the boundary conditions. — It is shown that the diffusion of recombined H‐atoms from the metal surface into the electrolyte does not seem to be the main reason for a loss of hydrogen concentration, but the presence of oxidizing species (generally oxygen), solved in the electrolyte, which lead to an enhanced electrochemical oxidation of hydrogen. In order to avoid this source of systematic errors, deaerated H 2 SO 4 was used for measuring time lag curves of hydrogen diffusion in palladium. Measured time lag curves, obtained by the current pulse method, agree very well with theoretical curves, evaluated from the solution of Fick's second law. — When determining diffusion coefficients by measuring the break‐through time one has to take into account the ratio of the amount of hydrogen, discharged on the entry side of the diffusion foil, to the content of hydrogen within the sample from precharging runs.