Changes of surface structure and elemental composition of components of deuterium high-pressure chamber with Pd rod inside irradiated with 10-MeV γ-quanta in dense deuterium gas

Abstract

This work is a continuation and addition to Ref. [1], which presents results on studies of the surface and elemental compositions of a Pd rod and brass screw for the collection of nuclear and chemical reaction products in a deuterium high-pressure chamber (DHPC) under irradiation with γ-quanta with an energy of 10 MeV for 18 h at the MT-25 electron accelerator at a beam current of 11–13 μA. The DHPC is filled with 1.2-kbar molecular deuterium in which a Pd rod saturated with deuterium is loaded. After irradiation, the elemental compositions of other surfaces of all DHPC elements, which are inside the DHPC in dense deuterium, are studied using an electron scanning microscope and X-ray microprobe analysis. It is established that all surfaces, including the surface of a high-purity palladium rod (99.995%), are covered with a partly homogeneous layer of large microparticles of lead. Also, light elements such as 6C, 8O, 11Na, 12Mg, 13Al, 14Si, 22Ti, 25Mn, 26Fe, 29Cu, and 30Zn and heavy metals such as 47Ag, 73Ta, 74W, 78Pt, 79Au, and 82Pb are observed. Possible processes that can cause the anomalies observed in the new synthesized elements are briefly discussed.